Word of the Day

: November 17, 2024

grandiloquence

noun gran-DIH-luh-kwunss

What It Means

Grandiloquence is a formal word that refers to the use of extravagantly colorful or pompous language often in order to sound impressive and important.

// He was known for the flowery grandiloquence of his speeches which, his passionate delivery notwithstanding, always caused more than a few listeners to doze off.

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grandiloquence in Context

“The novel, a melodramatic saga of social climbing and doomed romance, is a deliberate anachronism in both its themes and its style. Its Belle Époque setting, sweeping cast of characters, frequent asides to the reader, and grandiloquence place it firmly in the tradition of the nineteenth-century novel. It is not concerned with truth but with lies: glittering surfaces, concealed identities, and foolish pretensions.” — Jess Bergman, The New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2023

Did You Know?

Grandiloquence is a word for highfalutin speech that itself has somewhat of a highfalutin ring. It’s one of several English words related to speech that come from the Latin verb loqui, meaning “to speak,” including loquacious (“full of excessive talk”), soliloquy (“a long, dramatic monologue”), and, notably, eloquence, which refers to the ability to speak or write well and in an effective or persuasive way. Those who use grandiloquence in their speech or prose could also be described as a bit extra in their attempts at eloquence—the grand in grandiloquence traces back to the Latin adjective grandis meaning “great” or “grand.”