sesquipedalian


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ses·qui·pe·da·lian

 (sĕs′kwĭ-pĭ-dāl′yən)
n.
A long word.
adj.
1. Given to or characterized by the use of long words.
2. Long and ponderous; polysyllabic.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sesquipedalian

(ˌsɛskwɪpɪˈdeɪlɪən) or less commonly

sesquipedal

adj
1. tending to use very long words
2. (of words or expressions) long and ponderous; polysyllabic
n
a polysyllabic word
[C17: from Latin sēsquipedālis of a foot and a half (coined by Horace in Ars Poetica), from sesqui- + pedālis of the foot, from pēs foot]
ˌsesquipeˈdalianism, sesquipedality n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ses•qui•pe•da•li•an

(ˌsɛs kwɪ pɪˈdeɪ li ən, -ˈdeɪl yən)

adj.
1. given to using long words.
2. (of a word) containing many syllables.
[1605–15; < Latin sēsquipedāli(s) measuring a foot and a half]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

sesquipedalian

Used to describe words that are long and have many syllables.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.sesquipedalian - a very long word (a foot and a half long)
sesquipedalia
polysyllabic word, polysyllable - a word of more than three syllables
Adj.1.sesquipedalian - given to the overuse of long words; "sesquipedalian orators"; "this sesquipedalian way of saying one has no money"
pretentious - making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction; "a pretentious country house"; "a pretentious fraud"; "a pretentious scholarly edition"
2.sesquipedalian - (of words) long and ponderous; having many syllables; "sesquipedalian technical terms"
polysyllabic
long - primarily spatial sense; of relatively great or greater than average spatial extension or extension as specified; "a long road"; "a long distance"; "contained many long words"; "ten miles long"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

sesquipedalian

adjective
Having many syllables:
long, polysyllabic, sesquipedal.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

sesquipedalian

[ˌseskwɪpɪˈdeɪlɪən] ADJ → sesquipedal, polisilábico
sesquipedalian word → palabra f kilométrica
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Mentioned in ?
References in classic literature ?
D'Artagnan recoiled, as though the sesquipedalian syllables had knocked the breath out of his body.
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And has someone, rolling their eyes with disbelief, labelled you sesquipedalian? Probably not.
Why some folks drop big words
(providing--as he might put it--a sesquipedalian overview of the science
CUSTOM-EDITED DNA: LEGAL LIMITS ON THE PATENTABILITY OF CRISPR-CAS9'S THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS
Many people still think that using sesquipedalian words (literally, words that are a foot-and-a-half long) will impress their listeners.
Small talk on long words
world-weary, Eliotic tone, as well as some sesquipedalian diction
Hideous Progeny: Forgery, Frankenstein, and Peter Carey's My Life as a Fake
"If the confirmation ceremony has its load of silly sins in all the theatricalities, rhetorical exuberances, sesquipedalian phrases, sophomoric essays and personal ostentations," wrote Rabbi Max Heller in 1910, "surely the remedy would be worse than the disease if we went back to the indefensible Orientalism of excluding the fair sex again and re-adopted Bar Mitzvah." (50)
SAY IT WITH FLOWERS: SHAVUOT, CONFIRMATION, AND RITUAL REIMAGINATION FOR A MODERN AMERICAN JUDAISM
They're likelier to sprout wings than to invoke Pericles, as Vidal did in warning against the overextension of empire, or to flaunt whatever sesquipedalian vocabulary they might possess, as Buckley did at every opportunity.
Buckley against Vidal: they were "Best of Enemies"--and eerily similar
In the past, a limited version of this competition was on view in the annual national spelling bee aired on US TV, with little kids amazing and humbling adult viewers with their sesquipedalian prodigy.
TV tilt encourages kids to stretch their minds' muscles
And finally, the P-45 Prize for being the longest knowndictionary-listed unhyphenated English insider word goes to an oldfriend, that ageless sesquipedalian stalwart,
Looking for the longest insider word
Learning words like "sesquipedalian" or memorizing Morse code makes days feel productive.
Seven by eleven: one inmate's cell in the Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit
Formal communication, as I and my students experience it, is composed of baroque sentences with multiple sesquipedalian adjectives and adverbs.
Teaching EFL academic writing in Colombia: reflections in contrastive rhetoric/La ensenanza de escritura academica en Colombia: reflexiones en retorica contrastiva
*I am ashamed to have used the word 'sesquipedalian'.
Reporting of student demos left bitter taste in mouth

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