grandiloquent

English

WOTD – 7 November 2007    

Etymology

From Latin grandiloquus, from grandis (“great, full”) + loquor (“speak”)

Pronunciation

• (RP, US) IPA: /ɡɹænˈdɪl.ə.kwənt/ X-SAMPA: /gr{n"dIl.@.kW@nt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

grandiloquent (comparative more grandiloquent, superlative most grandiloquent)

1. (of a person, their language or writing) given to using language in a showy way by using an excessive amount of difficult words to impress others; bombastic; turgid

1. • 1898, William Graham Sumner, “The Conquest of the United States by Spain”, in War and Other Essays, Yale, published 1911, page 324:

     The American people believe that they have a free country, and we are treated to grandiloquent speeches about our flag and our reputation for freedom and enlightenment.

Translations

overly wordy or elaborate

• Catalan: grandiloqüent (ca) n
• Czech: velkohubý (cs) m
• Finnish: mahtipontinen (fi), suurieleinen (fi)
• French: grandiloquent (fr)

• Hungarian: szónokias (hu), dagályos (hu)
• Polish: górnolotny (pl) m, grandilokwentny (pl) m
• Portuguese: grandiloquente (pt)
• Russian: напыщенный (ru) (napýščennyj)
• Spanish: grandilocuente (es), grandílocuo (es)

Synonyms

• (overly wordy or elaborate): bombastic, extravagant, flowery, ostentatious, pretentious, sesquipedalian

Related terms

• grandiloquacity
• grandiloquence
• grandiloquism
• grandiloquous
• grandiloquoy
• magniloquent

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French

Adjective

grandiloquent m (feminine grandiloquente, masculine plural grandiloquents, feminine plural grandiloquentes)

1. grandiloquent