sesquipedalia
- noun
- /ˌsɛskwɪpɪˈdeɪliə/
- Formal
- The word sesquipedalia describes excessively long words.
Examples
-
Writers sometimes avoid sesquipedalia to keep their prose clear and accessible.
-
The English language has many curious sesquipedalia that appear only in technical texts.
-
He enjoyed using sesquipedalia to impress his friends with his vast vocabulary.
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Many people find sesquipedalia confusing.
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In his speech, he used several sesquipedalia that left the audience confused.
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Her tendency to use sesquipedalia made her writing seem overly complicated.
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The professor's lecture was filled with sesquipedalia, which made it hard to follow.
Synonyms
13
7.7
A long word or phrase that is hard to say
1
9.3
A long fancy word people use when simple words are enough
1
9.9
A habit of using too many words that makes people bored
1
4.8
Using more language than needed in writing or speech
1
7.5
Talking or writing with too many words makes people bored
1
9.9
A very long word made of many syllables
Use of long words that make speech or writing hard to understand
The use of too many words that makes speech or writing long and boring
How Long
- Formal
1
5.9
Surface Forms
Etymology
Sesquipedalia comes from Latin parts sesqui- 'one and a half' and ped 'foot'. It originally meant 'a foot and a half long', so a helpful way to remember it is to think of sesquipedalia as 'very long words', and you can see the same ped in familiar words like pedal and pedestrian.