sesquipedality

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sesquipedality

A professor's sesquipedality often confuses his students.

Definition

Noun: - The use of long words; characterized by long words or long-windedness: The quality or style of speech or writing that employs lengthy, often polysyllabic, words, sometimes to an excessive or ostentatious degree.

Usage
  • This is a formal and somewhat rare noun, often used in literary or academic criticism to describe a verbose or pedantic style.
  • It is typically used in a neutral or slightly negative context to comment on language style.
Examples
  • The professor's lectures were marked by an unnecessary that often confused the undergraduates.
  • His writing style, full of , made the simple instructions difficult to follow.
  • While some admire his erudition, others find his constant tiresome.
Advanced Usage
  • "A tendency toward sesquipedality": A phrase describing a habitual inclination to use long words.
    • The legal document's tendency toward sesquipedality obscured its core meaning.
  • Used as a stylistic critique in rhetoric and literary analysis.
Variants and Related Words
  • Sesquipedalian (adj): Pertaining to or characterized by the use of long words.
    • He has a sesquipedalian vocabulary.
  • Sesquipedalian (n): A person who uses long words, or a long word itself.
    • "Antidisestablishmentarianism" is a famous sesquipedalian.
Synonyms
  • Long-windedness: The use of more words than necessary.
  • Verbosity: Speech or writing that uses an excess of words.
  • Grandiloquence: Pompous or extravagant language.
  • Polysyllabism: The use of polysyllabic words.
Antonyms
  • Brevity: Concise and exact use of words.
  • Simplicity: The quality of being easy to understand, often using plain language.
  • Laconicism: Using very few words.
Related Idioms and Phrases
  • "A sesquipedalian style": A direct descriptive phrase for writing or speech characterized by long words.
    • The author's sesquipedalian style is not for the casual reader.
sesquipedality

A professor's sesquipedality often confuses his students.

Noun
  1. using long words