sesquipedalian
English
WOTD – 9 October 2006
Etymology
From sesquipedal + -ian, from 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. Cognate to French sesquipédal. First used by the Latin poet Horace in his Ars Poetica, line 97 "sesquipedalia verba", "words a foot and a half long", referring to poets using excessively long words.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˌsɛskwɪpɪˈdeɪlɪən/
Audio (RP) (file) Audio (GA) (file) - Hyphenation: ses‧qui‧pe‧da‧li‧an
Noun
sesquipedalian (plural sesquipedalians)
- A long word.
- 1830, On the Art of Rising in Prose The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, part 2, v. 29, Henry Colburn and Co., page: 162:
- “The fine old fellow,” as a Northern contemporary of ours patronizingly calls him, certainly rolled out his sesquipedalians with a majesty previously unknown, and gave a fine organ-like swell to his full-blow periods;
- 1927, John S. Farmer, William Ernest Henley, A Dictionary of Slang and Colloquial English: Abridged from the Seven-volume Work, Entitled "Slang and Its Analogues", Taylor & Francis, page: 164:
- Fleet-streetese, the so-called English written to sell by the Fleet-streeter (q.v.), or baser sort of journalist: a mixture of sesquipedalians and slang, of phrases worn threadbare and phrases sprung from the kennel;
- 1952, Hannah More, Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, page: 220:
- ‘Sometimes we converse in ballad-rhymes, sometimes in Johnsonian sesquipedalians; at tea we condescend to riddles and charades.’
- 1830, On the Art of Rising in Prose The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, part 2, v. 29, Henry Colburn and Co., page: 162:
- A person who uses long words.
- 2008, Richard Dawkins, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing,Oxford University Press, page: 106:
- Word-watchers, verbivores, and sesquipedalians love a challenge.
- 2009, Sally Adams, Wynford Hicks, Interviewing for Journalists, Taylor & Francis, page: 97:
- ‘What sort of writer is the English professor looking for?’ / ‘He wants a sesquipedalian, of course.’
- 2012, Jonathan Herring, How to Argue: Powerfully, Persuasively, Positively, FT Press, chapter 8, page: ?:
- Don’t be a sesquipedalian! / Yes, you guessed right. A sesquipedalian is a person who enjoys long words.
- 2008, Richard Dawkins, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing,Oxford University Press, page: 106:
Translations
a long word
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person who uses long words
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Adjective
sesquipedalian (comparative more sesquipedalian, superlative most sesquipedalian)
- (of a word or words) long; polysyllabic.
- The most common use of "antidisestablishmentarianism" is as an example of a sesquipedalian word.
- 1988 March 1, “What Dictionary (General or Specialized) Do You Find Useful or Interesting for Students?”, in The English Journal, page 68:
- Happy word hunting! You might bag a sesquipedalian trophy! (Look it up in the dictionary).
- Pertaining to or given to the use of overly long words.
- Our dinner guest was so sesquipedalian that no one could understand what he said.
- 2014 October 30, Ben Brantley, “When the head leads the heart: 'The Real Thing,' With Ewan McGregor and Maggie Gyllenhaal, opens on Broadway [print version: When the witty head is far ahead of the heart: Maggie Gyllenhaal and Ewan McGregor star in revival of 'Real Thing', International New York Times, 4 November 2014, p. 9]”, in The New York Times:
- [I]ts main character, Henry (Mr. [Ewan] McGregor), is a successful, intellectual dramatist who seems quite capable of churning out fizzy, challenging works about brilliant but ambivalent revolutionaries, philosophers, etc. […] But this cleverer-than-thou creature gets his comeuppance in "The Real Thing," showing that a very human heart – just like those possessed by the less sesquipedalian – beats beneath his fancy words.
Synonyms
- (of long words): polysyllabic
- (given to the use of long words): See Thesaurus:verbose
Antonyms
- (of long words): monosyllabic, brachysyllabic
- (given to the use of long words): See Thesaurus:concise
Derived terms
- sesquipedalianism – literary style characterised by the use of long words.
- sesquipedalianist – a writer using sesquipedalianism.
- sesquipedalophobia – fear of long words.
Related terms
► <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:English_words_prefixed_with_sesqui-' title='Category:English words prefixed with sesqui-'>English words prefixed with sesqui-</a>
▼ <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:English_terms_derived_from_the_PIE_root_*ped-' title='Category:English terms derived from the PIE root *ped-'>English terms derived from the PIE root *ped-</a> (0 c, 40 e)
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/antipodes' title='antipodes'>antipodes</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/arthropod' title='arthropod'>arthropod</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/centipede' title='centipede'>centipede</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/cheliped' title='cheliped'>cheliped</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/expede' title='expede'>expede</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/expedience' title='expedience'>expedience</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/expediency' title='expediency'>expediency</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/expedient' title='expedient'>expedient</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/expedite' title='expedite'>expedite</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/expediter' title='expediter'>expediter</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/expedition' title='expedition'>expedition</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/fet' title='fet'>fet</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/fetch' title='fetch'>fetch</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/foot' title='foot'>foot</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/football' title='football'>football</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/impeachment' title='impeachment'>impeachment</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/impede' title='impede'>impede</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/impediment' title='impediment'>impediment</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/impedimenta' title='impedimenta'>impedimenta</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/millipede' title='millipede'>millipede</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/pawn' title='pawn'>pawn</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/pedal' title='pedal'>pedal</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/pedestal' title='pedestal'>pedestal</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/pedestrian' title='pedestrian'>pedestrian</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/pedicle' title='pedicle'>pedicle</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/pedicure' title='pedicure'>pedicure</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/pedigree' title='pedigree'>pedigree</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/pedometer' title='pedometer'>pedometer</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/peduncle' title='peduncle'>peduncle</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/pessimize' title='pessimize'>pessimize</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/pinniped' title='pinniped'>pinniped</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/-pod' title='-pod'>-pod</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/podiatrist' title='podiatrist'>podiatrist</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/podiatry' title='podiatry'>podiatry</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/podo-' title='podo-'>podo-</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/podology' title='podology'>podology</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/podopompholyx' title='podopompholyx'>podopompholyx</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/quadruped' title='quadruped'>quadruped</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/sesquipedal' title='sesquipedal'>sesquipedal</a>
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/sesquipedalian' title='sesquipedalian'>sesquipedalian</a>
Translations
of long words
|
|
given to the use of long words
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Further reading
- “sesquipedalian” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.
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