turgid
Americanadjective
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swollen; distended; tumid.
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inflated, overblown, or pompous; bombastic.
turgid language.
adjective
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swollen and distended; congested
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(of style or language) pompous and high-flown; bombastic
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of turgid
1660–70; < Latin turgidus, equivalent to turg ( ēre ) to swell + -idus -id 4
Explanation
Turgid describes something that's swollen, typically by fluids, like a turgid water balloon that's way too big to resist dropping on your friend's head. Turgid comes from the Latin word turgidus, meaning "swollen, inflated." Turgid can be used in a figurative sense to describe things that are overblown. That might remind you of some people's egos! If a famous singer wants to showcase his incredible vocal range and his love of yodeling in a single song, the result may well be turgid, something so swollen with notes and styles that it seems ready to burst.
Vocabulary lists containing turgid
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Great Gatsby
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Poe's Favorite Words, collected by Charles Harrington Elster
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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.
France ended their turgid November campaign with a lacklustre 48-33 win over the Wallabies after failing to live up to expectations as a swashbuckling side capable of challenging the world's best under coach Fabien Galthie.
From Barron's • Nov. 30, 2025
Rangers' domestic results are improving under new head coach Rohl, but the quality of the football is still turgid.
From BBC • Nov. 24, 2025
Though Godard later came to be synonymous with turgid, obtuse cinema, “Nouvelle Vague” is the opposite: a sprightly, effervescent ode to moviemaking as semi-controlled mischief.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025
Mr. Dennett combined a wide range of knowledge with an easy, often playful writing style to reach a lay public, avoiding the impenetrable concepts and turgid prose of many other contemporary philosophers.
From New York Times • Apr. 19, 2024
The wolves had gone into the turgid brown water alone.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
