Johnsonese

[ jon-suh-neez, -nees ]

/ ˌdʒɒn səˈniz, -ˈnis /

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noun

a literary style characterized by rhetorically balanced, often pompous phraseology and an excessively Latinate vocabulary: so called from the style of writing practiced by Samuel Johnson.

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Origin of Johnsonese

First recorded in 1835–45; (Samuel) Johnson + -ese

Words nearby Johnsonese

John Q. Public, Johns, Johnson, Johnson, Andrew, Johnson City, Johnsonese, Johnson grass, Johnsonian, Johnson, James Weldon, Johnson, Lyndon Baines, Johnson, Samuel

How to use Johnsonese in a sentence

The stuffed buckram of Johnsonese had been succeeded by the mincing hifalutin of Mrs. Anne Radcliffe and her like.
Washington Irving|Henry W. Boynton
When he wrote for publication he did his sentences out of English into Johnsonese.
Macaulay's Life of Samuel Johnson|Thomas Babington Macaulay
But Johnson seems to have written Johnsonese from his cradle.
Hours in a Library|Leslie Stephen
What sort of an appearance would they present when furnished in a blend of Johnsonese and his own stheticism?
Twos and Threes|G. B. Stern

Sebastian, for his part, might have found some difficulty in translating into Johnsonese the twisted asceticism of Stuart Heron.
Twos and Threes|G. B. Stern