grandiloquent
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ɡrænˈdɪləkwənt/
- Literature
:
grandilocuente
- His grandiloquent descriptions of the project made it seem far more impressive than it actually was.
Examples
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She always uses grandiloquent language to make her writing sound more important and sophisticated.
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This is a kind of grandiloquent argument for fiction as opposed to history.
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The rather grandiloquent central space on the first floor has long been reserved for the exhibition of masterpieces from the collection.
Academic text (1996) -
Pride of place in that pronouncement was given to commerce, on which Bush was grandiloquent if vague.
Academic text (1990) -
And through Lester's grandiloquent real estate parlance, useless Victorian spaces had sprung important new purposes.
Fiction book (1996) -
The second category of justifications is more amorphous and personal: college is both an end in itself, enjoyable on its own terms, and, in grandiloquent terms, it helps cultivate the mind and character.
Blog text (8) -
In his screenplay, Ben Maddow changed the first name of Chick's uncle from Gavin to John, but the words he put into his mouth are reasonably faithful to the grandiloquent discourses of the character in the novel.
Academic text (1999) -
And, numbed of late by the professor's endless cascade of cheap middle-school debating-team rhetoric, I cannot help waxing grandiloquent.
Blog text (16) -
The author offers us a vivid reminder that abstraction itself is a social process and how small a role agency actually plays in such grandiloquent schemes that may simply amount to tentative social dispossession and enforced self-legitimacy.
Academic text (2009) -
Mena's grandiloquent phrases, typical currency of the elites, hide reality and clash violently with the language of the Carajicomedia, which is brutally realistic and hides absolutely nothing.
Academic text (2003)
Synonyms
74
7.3
Trying to seem more important or clever than you really are
57
5.8
Acting more important and formal than necessary
28
5.7
Exaggerated and showy in style or speech
27
7.5
Too big and showy in a way that tries to seem more important than it is
12
8.5
Using big, showy words that have little real meaning
11
7.7
To show off very expensive things to attract attention
4
9.3
Behaving or speaking in a fancy way to seem more important
1
8.2
Seeming important or impressive but lacking real meaning and honesty
1
8.9
Using words or ideas that sound grand and showy but feel unrealistic
1
9.9
Very fancy in a way that shows you think you are better than others
1
8.3
Speaking loudly and in a dramatic way to try to impress people
To use very big, showy words to sound important
Speech or writing that uses very grand, showy language
Showing off and acting more important than others
Acting very serious and proud in a way that annoys others
About public speaking that is very formal and showy
Using long, difficult words in speech or writing
Antonyms
How Ornate
Surface Forms
Morphology
grandiloquent = grand + loqu + ent
Although the word contains the recognizable element 'grand', the learned Latin root 'loqu' ('speak') and the adjectival ending are not transparent enough for an average learner to infer the meaning reliably.
Etymology
Grandiloquent joins grand- 'large' and loqu- 'to speak', so it literally means 'big speaking'. That's why a grandiloquent person uses fancy, showy words to impress people and sound more important than necessary.