English Explanatory Dictionary

sesquipedalian

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A long word.
  2. A person who uses long words.
adj
  1. Long; polysyllabic.
  2. Pertaining to or given to the use of overly long words.

Pronunciation

/ˌsɛs.kwɪ.pɪˈdeɪ.lɪ.ən/ En-uk-sesquipedalian.ogg en-us-sesquipedalian.ogg En-us-sesquipedalian.oga

Word forms

sesquipedalian sesquipedalians more sesquipedalian most sesquipedalian

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”)).

Synonyms

polysyllabic verbose

Antonyms

monosyllabic brachysyllabic concise

Related words

hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia sesquipedal sesquipedality

Derived words

sesquipedalianism sesquipedalianist sesquipedalophobia
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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