officialese

[uh-fish-uh-leez, -lees]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR officialese ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a style of language used in some official statements, often criticized for its use of polysyllabic jargon and obscure, pretentiously wordy phrasing.

Origin of officialese

First recorded in 1880–85; official + -ese

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for officialese

diffusion, redundancy, garrulity, diffuseness, verbosity, circumlocution, fecundity, verbiage, loquacity, prolixity, pleonasm, tautology, periphrasis, logorrhea, loquaciousness, verbality, verbigeration

British Dictionary definitions for officialese

officialese

noun

language characteristic of official documents, esp when verbose or pedantic

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for officialese

"language of officialdom," 1881, from official + -ese.