sesquipedalian
Syllables: ses·qui·pe·da·li·an/ˌsɛs.kwɪ.pɪˈdeɪ.lɪ.ən/
sesquipedalian adjective: long; polysyllabic.
Adjective
sesquipedalian (comparative more sesquipedalian, superlative most sesquipedalian)
- Long; polysyllabic.
- 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
- Synonyms:
- polysyllabic
- Antonyms:
- monosyllabic, brachysyllabic
- 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.
- [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...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...
- Synonyms:
- circumlocutory, diffuse, periphrastic, palaverous, pleonastic, prolix, rigmarole, verbose, wordy, brief
Noun
sesquipedalian (plural sesquipedalians)
- 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
- Synonyms:
- sesquipedal
- A person who uses long words.
- Word-watchers, verbivores, and sesquipedalians love a challenge.2008, Richard Dawkins, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, Oxford University Press, page: 106
- ‘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
- Synonyms:
- sesquipedalianist
sesquipedalian meaning in Bengali
sesquipedalian in Bengali
- দীর্ঘ, বহুশব্দাংশিক, একটি দীর্ঘ শব্দ
Examples of sesquipedalian in a sentence
- You might bag a sesquipedalian trophy! (Look it up in the dictionary).1988 March, “What Dictionary (General or Specialized) Do You Find Useful or Interesting for Students?”, in The English Journal, page 68:
- ‘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:
- Don’t be a sesquipedalian! / Yes, you guessed right.2012, Jonathan Herring, How to Argue: Powerfully, Persuasively, Positively, FT Press, chapter 8, page: ?
Synonyms of sesquipedalian
- polysyllabic
- circumlocutory
- diffuse
- periphrastic
- palaverous
- pleonastic
- prolix
- rigmarole
- verbose
- wordy
13 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of sesquipedalian
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more sesquipedalian |
| superlative | most sesquipedalian |
| Noun | |
| plural | sesquipedalians |
Origin of sesquipedalian
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”)).
Words formed from sesquipedalian
Words that rhyme with sesquipedalian
Questions about sesquipedalian
- What does sesquipedalian mean?
- Sesquipedalian means long; polysyllabic.
- What is sesquipedalian in Bengali?
- Sesquipedalian in Bengali is দীর্ঘ, বহুশব্দাংশিক, একটি দীর্ঘ শব্দ. See Sesquipedalian meaning in Bengali.
- How do you use sesquipedalian in a sentence?
- You might bag a sesquipedalian trophy! (Look it up in the dictionary).
- What part of speech is sesquipedalian?
- Sesquipedalian can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce sesquipedalian?
- Sesquipedalian is pronounced /ˌsɛs.kwɪ.pɪˈdeɪ.lɪ.ən/.
Words near sesquipedalian in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sesquipedalian (page history and authors); sesquipedalian (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-sesquipedalian.ogg, en-us-sesquipedalian.ogg.
Cite this entry: “sesquipedalian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sesquipedalian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.