euphuism
[yoo-fyoo-iz-uh m]
- an affected style in imitation of that of Lyly, fashionable in England about the end of the 16th century, characterized chiefly by long series of antitheses and frequent similes relating to mythological natural history, and alliteration.Compare Euphues.
- any similar ornate style of writing or speaking; high-flown, periphrastic language.
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Origin of euphuism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
grandiloquence, rhetoric, bombast, delicacy, wordiness, pomposity, fustian, Gongorism, purismExamples from the Web for euphuism
Historical Examples
The cry of art for art's sake is raised, and the result is extravagance, euphuism.
John LylyJohn Dover Wilson
With these general remarks we must leave the subject of euphuism.
John LylyJohn Dover Wilson
With euphuism, antithesis and the use of balanced sentences came to stay.
John LylyJohn Dover Wilson
And so, though we cannot say that euphuism is verse, we can say that it partakes of the nature of verse.
John LylyJohn Dover Wilson
The euphuism of the foregoing quotation will be readily detected.
John LylyJohn Dover Wilson
euphuism
- an artificial prose style of the Elizabethan period, marked by extreme use of antithesis, alliteration, and extended similes and allusions
- any stylish affectation in speech or writing, esp a rhetorical device or expression
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Word Origin
C16: after Euphues, prose romance by John Lyly
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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