Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The condition or property of being sesquipedalian; hence, the condition of being over-large.
- n. The practice of using long words.
Wiktionary
- n. An instance or condition of being sesquipedalian.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The quality or condition of being sesquipedal.
- n. The use of sesquipedalian words; style characterized by the use of long words; sesquipedalism.
WordNet 3.0
- n. using long words
Examples
“Benjamin Franklin Bache the grandson of his namesake referred to the short and dumpy Adams in his newspaper, Aurora, as "His Rotundity," whose appearance was so much "sesquipedality of belly.”
The Wall Street Journal: Gingrich and the History of Negative Campaigns
“He taxed Adams for obesity, referring to him as "His Rotundity," the possessor of a "sesquipedality of belly.”
“Slop, of about four feet and a half perpendicular height, with a breadth of back, and a sesquipedality of belly, which might have done honour to a serjeant in the horse-guards.”
“Why, Dr. Slop's abdominal sesquipedality was sylph-like grace to the Lambertian girth she displays.”
“Would you have thought that so much sesquipedality could die?”
“The sesquipedality of that word is trying to all of us, I fancy, and I am in the same box as the lady; for I am as sure as she is that I don't know the meaning of the word," added the professor.”
“His height was certainly not remarkable; but his width of shoulder -- his sesquipedality of stomach -- and obesity of calf -- these were unique!”
“Imagine to yourself a little squat, uncourtly figure of a Doctor Slop, of about four feet and a half perpendicular height, with a breadth of back, and a sesquipedality of belly, which might have done honour to a serjeant in the horseguards. ...”
“Mencken, Nabokov, Edmund Wilson, John Updike, and many another masterly writer for dabbling in sesquipedality.”
“But enough of this rhapsodizing on sesquipedality.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘sesquipedality’.
Lefty Webb sesquipedality is a word that I got off of
random word. "The practice of using long words." Dec 9, 2010