grandiloquent

American  

[gran-dil-uh-kwuhnt] / grænˈdɪl ə kwənt /

adjective

1. speaking or expressed in a lofty style, often to the point of being pompous or bombastic.

   Synonyms:

   pretentious, rhetorical, inflated, turgid

   Antonyms:

   sincere, simple

---

grandiloquent British  

/ ɡrænˈdɪləkwənt /

adjective

1. inflated, pompous, or bombastic in style or expression

---

Other Word Forms

• grandiloquence
  noun
• grandiloquently
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of grandiloquent

First recorded in 1585–95; grandiloqu(ence) + -ent

Explanation

Grandiloquent is a fancy term for, well, being fancy or pretentious. In fact, you might say grandiloquent is itself a pretty grandiloquent word. The word grandiloquent generally refers to the way a person behaves or speaks. Politicians and schoolteachers are the usual suspects of this manner of behavior, known as grandiloquence, but it can refer to anything that's overbearing or pompous in style or manner. Architecture, especially, is highly guilty of being grandiloquent — if you check out just about anything built in the Baroque style, you could describe it as grandiloquent.

Example Sentences

Prone to social media outbursts, grandiloquent speeches and public spats, Petro has burned through more than 60 ministers in four years.

From Barron's • Mar. 8, 2026

Daniel Barenboim led a grandiloquent “Heldenleben” at Segerstrom Center’s older, acoustically troubled hall on an earlier visit of the Vienna Philharmonic.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2025

But it is one that predictably becomes more complicated in the Situation Room than it seems at the podium during a grandiloquent speech.

From New York Times • Jul. 25, 2023

Such is the power of certain books when you’re young, even books that are critically dismissed as pulpy and grandiloquent, as Rice’s often were.

From Washington Post • Dec. 13, 2021

I trim the grandiloquent excesses on this and the other answer before e-mailing them to Amu.

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali