Sesquipedalian

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ËŒsÉ›skwɪpɪˈdeɪlɪən/
• Hyphenation: ses + qui + pe + da + li + an

Origin

Latin sesquipedalis, from sesqui-, from Latin sesqui ("one and a half"); + pedal, from Latin pedis, form of pes ("foot"), + adjective suffix -alis; + adjective suffix -ian. Cognate to French sesquipédal.

Full definition of sesquipedalian

Noun

1. 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.’
2. 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.

Adjective

1. (of a word or words) long; polysyllabic.More people know the sesquipedalian word "antidisestablishmentarianism" than know what it means.
2. 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.

Synonyms

• (of long words) polysyllabic
• (given to the use of long words) bombastic, grandiloquent, long-winded, florid, prolix

Antonyms

• (of long words) monosyllabic, brachysyllabic
• (given to the use of long words) brief, terse, laconic

Derived terms

• sesquipedalianism – literary style characterised by the use of long words.
• sesquipedalianist – a writer using sesquipedalianism.
• sesquipedaliophobia – fear of long words.

Related terms

• hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
• sesquipedal
• sesquipedality