magniloquent
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of magniloquent
1650–60; back formation from Latin magniloquentia elevated language, equivalent to magniloqu ( us ) speaking grandly ( magni- magni- + loqu ( ī ) to speak + -us adj. suffix) + -entia -ence
Explanation
If you want to impress people, you might try using magniloquent language. That is, fancy and flowery language. For instance, you could use the word magniloquent, which come to think of it, is a magniloquent word itself. Magniloquent may remind you of the word eloquent, which describes a way of speaking that is articulate, persuasive, and carefully chosen. Magniloquent shares the Latin root loqui, “speak,” with eloquent and also describes a way of speaking. However, magniloquent describes speech that sounds very intelligent and important, but may in fact have little substance. Another adjective that sounds similar and conveys the same meaning is grandiloquent. Other synonyms include bombastic, pompous, and highfalutin.
Vocabulary lists containing magniloquent
100 SAT Words Beginning with "M"
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That's Great!: Magn
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Boris Johnson has long spun political gold from his magniloquent tongue, using what some linguists and observers say bombastic language, esoteric vocabulary, occasional crudity and episodes of bumbling bluster.
From Reuters • Jul. 23, 2019
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with the Revolution succeeded by the reign of Napoleon, that meant history painting: magniloquent tableaus — battles, shipwrecks, coronations — in which myth and reality met.
From New York Times • Jan. 24, 2013
T.R. had criticized Wilson for "hopeless weakness" and "magniloquent vagueness."
From Time Magazine Archive
Percy Hammond, 63, since 1921 the New York Herald Tribune's witty and magniloquent drama critic; of pneumonia; in Manhattan.
From Time Magazine Archive
This was the same Beverley Temple of twenty-five years ago, only a little more magniloquent than ever and a little more under Mrs. Temple’s thumb.
From Throckmorton by Seawell, Molly Elliot
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
