rhopalic

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English

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Etymology

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From Latin rhopalicus, from Ancient Greek ῥόπαλον (rhópalon, club, bat).

Adjective

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rhopalic (comparative more rhopalic, superlative most rhopalic)

  1. (poetry, rhetoric) Having each successive word longer by a letter or syllable.
    • 1986 October 26, Alan Truscott, “Talking About Behavior”, in The New York Times:
      Soapy fired off a rhopalic sentence, that is, one in which each word is one letter longer than the word that precedes it: "I am the only dummy player, perhaps, planning maneuvers calculated brilliantly, nevertheless outstandingly pachydermatous, notwithstanding unconstitutional unprofessionalism."

Translations

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Noun

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rhopalic (plural rhopalics)

  1. A rhopalic poem.

Anagrams

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