Johnsonese
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.
Origin of Johnsonese
1Words Nearby Johnsonese
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
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. BoyntonWhen he wrote for publication he did his sentences out of English into Johnsonese.
Macaulay's Life of Samuel Johnson | Thomas Babington MacaulayBut Johnson seems to have written Johnsonese from his cradle.
Hours in a Library | Leslie StephenWhat sort of an appearance would they present when furnished in a blend of Johnsonese and his own stheticism?
Twos and Threes | G. B. SternSebastian, for his part, might have found some difficulty in translating into Johnsonese the twisted asceticism of Stuart Heron.
Twos and Threes | G. B. Stern
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