Dictionary

sesquipedalian en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˌsɛs.kwɪ.pɪˈdeɪ.lɪ.ən/
• (General-American) audio
• (General-American) audio
• (Received-Pronunciation) audio

Etymology

From sesquipedal + -ian (adjective- and noun-forming suffix), root from Latin sēsquipedālis (literally “a foot and a half long”), from Latin sēsqui (“one and a half times”) + Latin pedālis (“measuring a foot, foot (relational)”) (an adjective from pēs (“foot”)).

Meanings

1. (of a word or words) Long; polysyllabic.
   • Happy word hunting! You might bag a sesquipedalian trophy! (Look it up in the dictionary). 1988 March 14, “What Dictionary (General or Specialized) Do You Find Useful or Interesting for Students?”, in The English Journal, page 68:
   • The most common use of "antidisestablishmentarianism" is as an example of a sesquipedalian word.
   • He would use the simplest, plainest language, he said to himself over and over again; but it is not always easy to use simple, plain language,—by no means so easy as to mount on stilts, and to march along with sesquipedalian words, with pathos, spasms, and notes of interjection. 1861, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage:
2. Pertaining to or given to the use of overly long words.
   • [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. 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:
   • Our dinner guest was so sesquipedalian that no one could understand what he said.

Forms

Antonyms

monosyllabic · brachysyllabic

Deriveds

sesquipedalianism · sesquipedalophobia · sesquipedalianist

Synonyms

rigmarole · terse · pleonastic · short-winded · brief · concise · crisp · circumlocutory · taut · succinct · diffuse · periphrastic · laconic · wordy · to the point · polysyllabic · palaverous · tight · lapidary · prolix · verbose · sesquipedalian

Translations (17)

it sesquipedale (given to the use of long words) · pl długi ((of a word or words) long, polysyllabic) · is gefinn fyrir long orð (given to the use of long words) · is margkvæður ((of a word or words) long, polysyllabic) · is margra atkvæða ((of a word or words) long, polysyllabic) · pl wielosylabowy ((of a word or words) long, polysyllabic) · de der ellenlangen Wörter ((of a word or words) long, polysyllabic) · de vielsilbig ((of a word or words) long, polysyllabic) · de schwülstig ((of a word or words) long, polysyllabic) · pl rozgadany (given to the use of long words) · de zu ellenlangen Worten neigend (given to the use of long words) · de ellenlang ((of a word or words) long, polysyllabic) · el μακαρονοειδής ((of a word or words) long, polysyllabic) · bg многосричен ((of a word or words) long, polysyllabic) · de schwülstig daherredend (given to the use of long words) · de sich umständlich ausdrückend (given to the use of long words) · it sesquipedale ((of a word or words) long, polysyllabic)

sesquipedalian en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌsɛs.kwɪ.pɪˈdeɪ.lɪ.ən/
• (General-American) audio
• (General-American) audio
• (Received-Pronunciation) audio

Etymology

From sesquipedal + -ian (adjective- and noun-forming suffix), root from Latin sēsquipedālis (literally “a foot and a half long”), from Latin sēsqui (“one and a half times”) + Latin pedālis (“measuring a foot, foot (relational)”) (an adjective from pēs (“foot”)).

Meanings

1. A long word.
   • “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; 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
   • 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; 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:
   • ‘Sometimes we converse in ballad-rhymes, sometimes in Johnsonian sesquipedalians; at tea we condescend to riddles and charades.’ 1952, Hannah More, Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, page: 220:
2. A person who uses long words.
   • ‘What sort of writer is the English professor looking for?’ / ‘He wants a sesquipedalian, of course.’ 2009, Sally Adams, Wynford Hicks, Interviewing for Journalists, Taylor & Francis, page: 97:
   • Don’t be a sesquipedalian! / Yes, you guessed right. A sesquipedalian is a person who enjoys long words. 2012, Jonathan Herring, How to Argue: Powerfully, Persuasively, Positively, FT Press, chapter 8, page: ?
   • Word-watchers, verbivores, and sesquipedalians love a challenge. 2008, Richard Dawkins, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, Oxford University Press, page: 106:

Forms

Relateds

sesquipedality · sesquipedal · hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

Synonyms

sesquipedalianist · sesquipedal

Translations (7)

de ellenlanges Wort n schwülstiger Begriff (a long word) · hu szókígyó (a long word) · de Wortungetüm (a long word) · de Mensch der ellenlangen Worte (person who uses long words) · pl długie słowo (a long word) · pl osoba używająca długich słów (person who uses long words) · hu szószörnyeteg (a long word)