Sesquipedalian
/ses-kwih-puh-DAY-lee-un/
लंबे शब्दों वाला (lambe shabdon wala)
Meanings
- Relating to or given to the use of long words
- Having many syllables
- Characterized by long words
Example Sentences
- "The professor's sesquipedalian lectures sent students scrambling to their dictionaries."
- "Good writers avoid sesquipedalian prose when simpler words will do."
- "His sesquipedalian vocabulary impressed some colleagues but confused most of them."
Etymology
From Latin 'sesquipedalis' (a foot and a half long), from 'sesqui-' (one and a half, from 'semis' half + '-que' and) + 'pedalis' (of the foot). Horace used 'sesquipedalia verba' (words a foot and a half long) in his 'Ars Poetica' to mock pompous writing. The word is itself sesquipedalian — beautifully self-referential.