Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun rhetoric A stylistic affectation of diction, such as throwing in foreign words to appear learned.
  • noun rhetoric Bad taste in words or selection of metaphor, either to make the facts appear worse or to disgust the auditors.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin cacozēlia ("a bad, faulty, awkward imitation"), from Ancient Greek κᾰκοζηλία (kakozelia, "unhappy imitation", "affectation").

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Examples

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Comments

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  • n. the use of rare or foreign words to appear learned

    October 6, 2009

  • Oh, none of us here would ever do that.

    October 6, 2009