Johnsonese

[ jon-suh-neez, -nees ]

/ ˌdʒɒn səˈniz, -ˈnis /

Save This Word!

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.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

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