Words / C2

mag-NIL-uh-kw-uh-nt/mæɡˈnɪləkwənt/

Magniloquent means using lofty, pompous language to impress (formal / disapproving): magniloquent speeches, a magniloquent minute. Grandiloquent and bombastic (already in the dictionary) are the close twins of inflated speech; bombast (already in the dictionary) is the noun of empty swell, and turgid (already in the dictionary) is pompously overwritten prose. Eloquent (already in the dictionary) is fluent and moving — skill, not swell. This batch: orotund is full and imposing of voice. A swell of adjectives is not a date.

Meaning

Using lofty, pompous language to impress (formal / disapproving).

Examples

• “Magniloquent minutes are not a finding; name the date.”
• “Grandiloquent is pompously high-flown (already in C2). Bombastic is inflated language (already in C2). Bombast is the empty swell (already in C2). Turgid is pompously overwritten (already in C2). Eloquent is fluent and moving (already in C1) — skill, not pomp. Orotund is full and imposing of voice (this batch). A short true sentence can still be presentable. A swell that never states the date is branding. Write the finding; then the organ.”

Good to know

Pompously high-flown (speech). Close: grandiloquent / bombastic / bombast / turgid (already in C2). Contrast: eloquent (already in C1). This batch: orotund. Rhetoric ≠ a date.

Near in meaning

grandiloquent, bombastic, pompous, high-flown

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