sesquipedality
- noun
- /ˌsɛskwɪpɪˈdælɪti/
- Formal
:
sesquipedalidad
- The professor's sesquipedality made his lectures difficult to follow.
Examples
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Some critics accuse legal documents of unnecessary sesquipedality.
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The professor’s sesquipedality amused the students but confused visitors.
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His sesquipedality in the essay made it difficult for most readers to understand his point.
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His sesquipedality often confused his audience.
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Some critics accuse legal documents of unnecessary sesquipedality.
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His sesquipedality in the essay made it difficult for most readers to understand his point.
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The professor’s sesquipedality amused the students but confused visitors.
Synonyms
1
7.3
Using more words than needed when speaking or writing
1
4.8
Using more language than needed in writing or speech
1
9.9
A habit of using too many words that makes people bored
1
7.5
Talking or writing with too many words makes people bored
Speech or writing that uses too many words
The use of too many words that makes speech or writing long and boring
Antonyms
How Verbose
Surface Forms
Morphology
sesquipedality = sesquipedalian (opaque) = sesqui + ped + al + ian + ity
Forming the noun with the regular suffix '-ity' from the adjective 'sesquipedalian' is a predictable derivation.
Etymology
Sesquipedality comes from Latin parts sesqui- 'one and a half' and ped 'foot'. It originally meant 'a foot and a half long' and was used jokingly for very long words, so sesquipedality now means the use or habit of using long words.