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  1. sesquipedalian love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A long word.
  2. adj. Given to or characterized by the use of long words.
  3. adj. Long and ponderous; polysyllabic.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Containing or measuring a foot and a half: as, a sesquipedalian pygmy: often humorously said of long words, in translation of Horace's sesquipedalia verba (words a foot and a half long).
  2. Addicted to the use of long words.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A long word.
  2. n. A person who uses long words.
  3. adj. of a word or words long; polysyllabic.
  4. adj. Pertaining to or given to the use of overly long words.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. given to the overuse of long words
  2. adj. (of words) long and ponderous; having many syllables
  3. n. a very long word (a foot and a half long)

Etymologies

  1. Latin sesquipedalis (literally "a foot and a half long"), from sesqui-, from Latin sesqui ("one and a half"); + pedal, from Latin pedis, form of pes ("foot"), + adjective suffix -alis; + adjective suffix -ian. Cognate to French sesquipédal. (Wiktionary)

Examples

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equivalents (2)

Other words for ‘sesquipedalian’

  1. pretentious
  1. long

hypernyms (2)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. polysyllable
  1. polysyllabic word

same context (19)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. much-disputed
  2. Spencerian
  3. atom-laser
  1. small
  2. tautological
  3. semi-major
  1. ore
  2. hymn-book
  3. 5-mm
  1. tetryon
  2. highly-coloured
  3. disputable
  1. 7-inch
  2. 3/8-inch
  3. yards'
  1. nanowire
  2. north-and-south
  3. wire rope
  1. pencil-thin

reverse dictionary (4)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. sesquipedalian
  1. sesquipedal
  1. sesquipedalianism
  1. sesquipedality

tags (14)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. lexicon
  2. crufty
  1. sesquipedalian
  2. vernacular
  1. tmesis
  2. epeolatry
  1. cacalogy
  2. double dactyl
  1. cvccvvcvcvcvvc
  2. linguistics
  1. syllables
  2. sesqui-
  1. language
  2. autological

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tagging (7)

Words tagged ‘sesquipedalian’

  1. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
  1. cacology
  1. epeolatry
  1. lexicon
  1. sesquipedalian
  1. tmesis
  1. vernacular

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Lists

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Comments

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  • jmjarmstrong JM is sesquipedalian again today! Mar 23, 2011

  • logophilius Sesquipedalian literally means "a foot and a half long, which begs the question: is anyone making nerd-centric porn? Oct 22, 2009

  • super-elisa almost sounds like a reptile. Jan 15, 2009

  • yarb *sides split open, head falls off* Nov 24, 2008

  • sionnach yarb: Have you ever noticed that hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian is itself a *very long word*?

    Pretty hilarious, nicht wahr? Nov 24, 2008

  • chained_bear I will not! It's very cute on the Wordie.org merch onesie for babies! Nov 24, 2008

  • dimã©lion it's a conspiracy! boycott this word! Nov 23, 2008

  • smeggo Why use a sesquipedalian word when you can opt for a lilliputian one? Oct 12, 2008

  • bodhi http://qwantz.com/archive/000257.html

    I'm glad we had this little talk! Sep 11, 2008

  • kalkiwendy This was my grandmother's very favorite word. It is an inheritance. I dearly love it. Aug 10, 2008

  • yarb Now that this noisome, beastly word is at the top of the "most-wordied" list, and being picked up by each new user like a dose of the clap at a wartime whorehouse, it seems set fair to infect Wordie, the internet and the entire universe. Aug 5, 2008

  • dontcry Mmmmm, icing! Aug 2, 2008

  • bilby And icing! Aug 2, 2008

  • yarb Can we please have a moratorium on this word. Aug 1, 2008

  • mialuthien Literally, "one-and-a-half feet". Jul 17, 2008

  • gangerh Now really blow them away, 'gus, with sesquidedalian! And, of course, schadenfreudgeon. Jul 10, 2008

  • Prolagus A colleague of mine could not believe I knew this word and its meaning. Oh, wordie... Jul 10, 2008

  • dontcry Uh,oh. I sense another eye-punching may be in the offing...

    "etceteraed" *snort!* Jun 30, 2008

  • sionnach yarb: have you ever thought about how short is a short word? Jun 30, 2008

  • yarb Next time someone points out to me that sesquipedalian is - ha ha! - actually - god this is funny! - a long word!! I think I will poke them in the eye.

    A stupid, smug, slapped-arse of a word. Jun 30, 2008

  • bilby Because there were signs up saying the streams were protected habitat for platypus breeding, hence no fishing, swimming, etc.

    I might have etceteraed once in the creek when no-one was looking *blushes*. Jun 14, 2008

  • asativum If the platypuses were streaming, wouldn't you have seen them? And if not, how did you know they were platypus streams? Jun 14, 2008

  • bilby I grew up next to platypus streams and I never saw one in the wild. Might have seen the tail of one. Once. Jun 14, 2008

  • dontcry I just don't know why but whenever I see this word, I see a duck-billed platypus. Maybe it's his feet... Jun 13, 2008

  • whichbe Elitists! Jun 13, 2008

  • bridiekent Wordie is sooooooo sesquipedalian. Did someone say that? It seems like someone should have. Jun 13, 2008

  • prasadkdr sesquipedalian approach to words is the biggest destroyer of true poetry Mar 10, 2008

  • bilby "An Australian man facing assault charges for throwing a snowball at a co-worker refused a plea bargain and instead insisted on a trial to clear his name, his mother said.
    Andrew Thistleton, who was a seasonal ski shop worker at the Copper Mountain resort last February, says he playfully tossed the snowball at Michelle Oehlert as she and her boyfriend waited for a bus. Prosecutors described the incident as a malicious attack with an "iceball".
    A judge yesterday declared a mistrial after Oehlert brought up new allegations during her testimony.
    Officials indicated Oehlert said when that Thistleton "tried to make me feel stupid by using big words to make himself feel better - sometimes he'd brush his hand against my behind".
    No sexual misconduct allegation was ever discussed before the trial started. The new allegations led to a mistrial being declared and the scheduling of a new trial to start this week." - The Age online, 9 Dec 2007. Dec 9, 2007

  • rocksinmypockets And it looks good on a Onesie! Oct 16, 2007

  • chained_bear But it FEELS so good to SAAAAAY... Mmm... sesquipedalian... Oct 10, 2007

  • fearraigh Wordy; bad wordy, not good Wordie Jun 12, 2007

  • arby Too show-offy for my taste. This is the kind of word people put in crossword puzzles to be cute. May 18, 2007

  • bbolman Whenever I want to use big words to confuse folks, this one always pops up. Apr 19, 2007

  • billifer thecosas describes it in a very non-sesquipedalian way! Dec 23, 2006

  • thecosas Its a word that describes itself, and chances are that if you know it, it also describes you :o) Dec 9, 2006

  • anotherfailedattempt I love that the word sesquipedalian is pretty long itself. Dec 2, 2006

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‘sesquipedalian’ has been looked up 10303 times, loved by 76 people, added to 328 lists, commented on 36 times, and has a Scrabble score of 26.