grandiloquence

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“
He delighted in that fine saying of Hobbes that, 'words are the counters of the wise man, but the money of the fool'; he believed that most controversies might be resolved into verbal ambiguities; and his hatred of vagueness, grandiloquence, affected obscurity, and rhetorical exaggeration exercised a very useful influence over young men.

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Definitions (4)

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  1. noun Pompous or bombastic speech or expression.

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Examples (50)

  • A prevailing grandiloquence, which easily slides into pomposity, is its greatest blemish. —  The Project Gutenberg eBook of Gibbon, by James Cotter Morison
  • Her lack of grandiloquence, in this case utter silence, at significant moments renders her much less presidential than she should at this point in the series. —  the Hathor Legacy
  • It's the economy, stupid, which reflects the government close association with the "grandiloquence" of Britain's economic performance in the past few years. —  The Latest From www.politics.co.uk
  • Often brightly painted, glittering motorised convoys with shrilling sirens are as much a feature of Cameroon's highways as the grandiloquence and grandeur of its ruling elite. —  Up Station Mountain Club
  • It was Maggie who was becoming a mean figure in spite of her grandiloquence--perhaps because of it. —  The Lowest Rung Together with The Hand on the Latch, St. Luke's Summer and The Understudy
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

martiall ·  puerility ·  renowme ·  stowre ·  receiveth ·  charlatanism ·  pithiness ·  divinatory ·  pomposity ·  quixotism ·  asketh ·  leue
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From grandiloquent, from Latin grandiloquus : grandis, great + loquī, to speak; see tolkw- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = Spanish grandilocuencia = Portuguese grandiloquencia = Italian grandiloquenza; as grandiloquen(t) + -ce.
 

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/grænˈdɪləkwəns/
by American Heritage

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