grandiloquence

IPA/ɡrænˈdɪləkwəns/
IPA/ɡrænˈdɪləkwəns/

grandiloquence — noun

1. a way of speaking or writing that relies on fancy, drawn-out words and showy phr

1.nounC2
Definition

a way of speaking or writing that relies on fancy, drawn-out words and showy phrases, used by someone trying to sound important or to win admiration rather than to make the meaning clear.

Example

The senator's grandiloquence about freedom and destiny left the audience polite but unmoved.

abstract nouns as objects of admiration in formal political speech

Astrid found the wedding speech full of grandiloquence but empty of real warmth.

common collocation: full of grandiloquence

Common collocations
  • full of grandiloquence
  • literary grandiloquence
  • political grandiloquence
  • empty grandiloquence
Synonyms
  • bombast

    near-synonym; equally pejorative, slightly more colloquial

  • pomposity

    focuses on the speaker's self-importance more than the language itself

  • magniloquence

    very close in meaning but even rarer; both come from the same Latin root

  • verbosity

    wordiness in general; not necessarily showy or self-important

Antonyms

Usage Note

Almost always pejorative — speakers use 'grandiloquence' to criticise overblown language, not to praise it. Frequently used with 'of', 'full of', or as the object of verbs like 'cut', 'avoid', 'reject'.

Common Mistakes

I loved her grandiloquence at the party.
I loved her eloquence at the party.
grandiloquence is negative (showy, empty); eloquence is positive (clear and moving).

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All five describe ways of using more language than necessary, but their tones differ sharply. 'Grandiloquence' and 'bombast' are both negative and focus on showy, lofty wording meant to impress — bombast is slightly more colloquial and can sound angrier. 'Pomposity' shifts the blame from the words to the speaker, who is acting self-important. 'Verbosity' is the most neutral: simply using too many words, with no claim about whether the speaker is showing off. 'Eloquence' is the positive opposite — language that moves listeners through clarity and power, not through ornament. A politician's speech may be eloquent if it inspires; it becomes grandiloquence or bombast when the listener feels the speaker is performing rather than communicating.

grandiloquence ↗bombast ↗eloquence ↗verbosity ↗pomposity

Common collocations

Nouns

  • literary grandiloquence
  • political grandiloquence
  • empty grandiloquence

Phrases

  • full of grandiloquence
  • free of grandiloquence
  • stripped of grandiloquence

Prepositions

  • of (grandiloquence of someone's prose)

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Borrowed into English in the late 1500s from Latin 'grandiloquus', a compound of 'grandis' (great, lofty) and 'loqui' (to speak). The Latin word originally praised dignified high style in oratory, but as English absorbed it the meaning soured: by the 1800s 'grandiloquence' almost always implied that the speaker was overdoing it.