Sesquipedalian can also be used to describe someone or something that overuses big words, like a philosophy professor or a chemistry textbook. If someone gives a sesquipedalian speech, people often assume it was smart, even if they don’t really know what it was about because they can’t understand the words.
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What do you call someone with a big vocabulary?
Vocabularian: a person with a large vocabulary and who studies vocabulary.
What do you call someone with good vocabulary?
Good vocabulary: Eloquent, well-versed, well-spoken, erudite, articulate. Poor vocabulary: linguistically challenged, inarticulate.
Are people who use big words smart?
Evidence for this: Folk psychology that larger vocabularies must mean higher intellect. Evidence against this: In an interesting series of studies, Oppenheimer (2006) investigated the extent to which larger and more complex words made people appear to be more intelligent.
What is a Vocabulist?
vocabulist in British English
(vəˈkæbjʊlɪst) noun. a vocabulary. someone who compiles a vocabulary.
What is a Sesquipedalianist?
Noun. sesquipedalianist (plural sesquipedalianists) (rare) A person who tends to use sesquipedalian words.
What is sesquicentennial?
Definition of sesquicentennial
: a 150th anniversary or its celebration.
What is a pretentious person?
If you say that someone or something is pretentious, you mean that they try to seem important or significant, but you do not think that they are. [disapproval] His response was full of pretentious nonsense.
What is the meaning of Antidisestablishmentarianism?
Antidisestablishmentarianism is opposition to a breaking away from an established church. Antidisestablishmentarianism is used to specifically refer to people who opposed withdrawing support of the Anglican Church of England during the 1800s.
Why using big words is bad?
When you’re going out of your way to use big words and long sentence structures, your writing is going to feel overworked. And when it feels heavy and forced like that, it usually means it’s not going to be fun to read. Writing in shorter sentences and using common words makes your work seem effortless.
Why do scholars use big words?
To learn and be kept up-to-date on what’s happening in their area of study, members within the community read, discuss and analyse each other’s writing. And as they respond to each other’s works, they began to develop and use certain discourse (read: conventions) to communicate and exchange information.
What is quasi intellectual?
noun. a person exhibiting intellectual pretensions that have no basis in sound scholarship. a person who pretends an interest in intellectual matters for reasons of status.
What is Poppysmic?
Poppysmic refers to the noise produced by smacking the lips together. It comes from the Latin poppysma, via the defunct French popisme. Romans used the original for a kind of lip-smacking, clucking noise that signified satisfaction and approval, especially during lovemaking.
What does Sesquipedality mean?
Sesquipedality is the habit or style of using extremely long, fancy words. Your English teacher might return the rough draft of your paper covered with red marks and a request to tone down the sesquipedality.
What is the meaning of Worcestershire?
: a pungent sauce whose ingredients include soy, vinegar, and garlic. — called also Worcestershire.
What is a Semicentennial?
Definition of semicentennial
: a 50th anniversary or its celebration.
What does Semisesquicentennial mean?
The prefix sesqui- is a shortened form of a Latin word meaning “a half in addition” or 1½ times; it appears in the rather better known sesquicentennial for a 150th anniversary. So semisesquicentennial refers to half of 1½ of 100 or 75.
What is 200 years called?
consisting of or lasting 200 years: a bicentennial period.
What causes pretentiousness?
Pretentiousness can develop from a genuine belief that one is better than someone else, or a sense of insecurity. Pretentiousness may persist because pretentious people take satisfaction in pulling genuine-minded people into their pattern.
What does pretentiousness mean?
a : making usually unjustified or excessive claims (as of value or standing) the pretentious fraud who assumes a love of culture that is alien to him— Richard Watts. b : expressive of affected, unwarranted, or exaggerated importance, worth, or stature pretentious language pretentious houses.
What is the meaning of superciliously?
Definition of supercilious
: coolly and patronizingly haughty reacted to their breach of etiquette with a supercilious smile.