sesquipedalian
/ˌsɛskwɪpɪˈdeɪlɪən
/adjective formal
1(Of a word) polysyllabic; long: sesquipedalian surnames...
- Helplessly, he would manipulate every sesquipedalian word he encountered until he had wrung all possible combinations out of it.
- Geologists (who never shy away from sesquipedalian words) call the process ‘differentiation.’
1.1Characterized by long words; long-winded: the sesquipedalian prose of scientific journals...
- The work started as a monologue, a rather sesquipedalian, somewhat dithering Englishwoman's reverie about Kabul based on a 1965 guidebook to that city.
- The English of the New Jerusalem Bible and New American Bible is sesquipedalian and nearly impossible to read aloud at times.
- This isn't some pretentious, sesquipedalian piece of drivel, but a mad, inspired, fun must-read.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from Latin sesquipedalis 'a foot and a half long', from sesqui- (see sesqui-) + pes, ped- 'foot'.