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declamatory

declamatory

1 8.3
Speaking loudly and in a dramatic way to try to impress people
  • adjective
  • /dɪˈklæməˌtɔri/
  • Formal
translation icon : declamatorio
  • She delivered her speech in a declamatory manner, emphasizing each point with grand gestures.
  • declamatory style

Examples

  • The speaker's declamatory tone captivated the audience, making even mundane topics seem important.

  • Both of them spoke in a fine declamatory style, but they frequently interrupted themselves with a sad little laugh that expressed something quite different from what they were saying and which seemed to serve them as an aside not meant for our ears.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Dramatic. Having a powerful voice and a declamatory style.

    Academic text (2003)
  • It's four declamatory sentences, followed by a question, for a total of 57 words.

  • Clapping on beats two and four, moving while singing, and using a declamatory style are common performance practices of gospel.

    Academic text (2003)
  • The grandly declamatory style, moreover, is pure Raynal.

    Academic text (2000)
  • "The Costa Rican golden toad," he cried in his wild burnished declamatory tones, "R.I.P.!" The woman beside me gasped.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The girls responded to the melody line by singing short, declamatory phrases in three-part harmony (alto, soprano one, and soprano two).

    Academic text (2005)
  • Lindstrom's play consists of six tableaux—the antithesis of dramatic action—and is composed in declamatory verse.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Thus, where Struggle photography had tended to be urgent and declamatory, dictating specific readings of the image, photographers emerging from this maelstrom wanted to create a more resonant, complex image of their subjects.

    Academic text (2004)

Synonyms

large
vsdeclamatory
13 8.2

Using grand or showy language to seem important

is more openly loud and theatrical rather than merely lofty
bombastic
vsdeclamatory
12 8.5

Using big, showy words that have little real meaning

is more theatrical and exaggerated in voice and delivery
turgid
vsdeclamatory
  • Formal
3 8.9

Language that uses long, fancy words to seem important but is hard to read

is more theatrical and aimed to impress by volume and show
grandiloquent
vsdeclamatory
  • Literature
1 9.9

Using long, fancy words to sound important

is louder and more theatrical in tone and presentation
overemphatic
vsdeclamatory
1 6.8

Saying something with too much force so it sounds fake

is more theatrical and deliberately exaggerated to impress listeners
magniloquent
vsdeclamatory
  • Formal
9.9

To use very big, showy words to sound important

is more loudly theatrical and meant to attract attention
orotund
vsdeclamatory
  • Formal
9.9

Speech or writing that uses very grand, showy language

is more exaggerated and openly theatrical in delivery
tumid
vsdeclamatory
  • Literature
9.9

Speech or writing that uses big words to seem important

is more loud and exaggerated in performance and tone

Antonyms

27 6.5

Simple and quiet in a way that looks elegant

11 5.5

Quiet and controlled in voice or actions, not noisy

How Theatrical

bombastic
12 8.5
declamatory
  • Formal
1 8.3
oratorical
  • Formal
3 7.7
rhetorical
86 7.3
plain
89 2.0

Surface Forms

declamatory positive

Morphology

declamatory = declaim (transparent) = declaim + atory

Formed by adding the adjective-forming suffix '-atory' to the verb 'declaim', so the meaning 'relating to declaiming or rhetorical speech' follows directly.

Etymology

Declamatory comes from the Latin parts de- and clamare, where clamare means 'to shout' or 'call out'. The same root appears in English words like clamor and exclaim, so declamatory describes speech that is loud, showy, and meant to impress.