grandiloquence
Inflated verbal display
Grandiloquence is lofty, pompous, or extravagant language—speech that tries to impress through elaborate vocabulary and ornate phrasing.
The word usually carries a negative edge, suggesting the speaker values sounding impressive over being clear: His grandiloquence couldn't disguise the emptiness of his argument.
The adjective is grandiloquent.
Pretentious hollow language
- bathosDeflating descent in tone
- blusterLoud, empty boasting
- windinessState of being blustery
- hot airMeaningless boastful talk
puffery · magniloquence · fustian · rant · bloviation · verbosity · prolixity · long-windedness
Elaborately decorated
- bombasticExcessively inflated language
- pompousAffectedly grand in manner
- floridExcessively ornate or ruddy
- verboseMore words than necessary
overwrought · magniloquent · high-flown · turgid · inflated · pretentious · ostentatious · theatrical
Formal public speech
- declamationForceful, theatrical speaking
- perorationConcluding part of discourse
- monologueUninterrupted solo address
- soliloquyDramatic speech to oneself
harangue · tirade · sermon · lecture · address · pronouncement · proclamation · rhetoric
Having many syllables
- sesquipedalianGiven to lengthy vocabulary
- aureateGolden or ornate
- elaborateComplex and detailed
- embellishedDecorated or exaggerated
ornamented · fancy · extravagant · grandiose · majestic · sonorous · resounding · decorous
bombast
Pretentious hollow language
hot air · puffery · magniloquence · fustian · rant · bloviation · verbosity · prolixity · long-windedness · pomposity
ornate
Elaborately decorated
- bombasticExcessively inflated language
- pompousAffectedly grand in manner
- floridExcessively ornate or ruddy
verbose · overwrought · magniloquent · high-flown · turgid · inflated · pretentious · ostentatious · theatrical · affected
oration
Formal public speech
- declamationForceful, theatrical speaking
- perorationConcluding part of discourse
- monologueUninterrupted solo address
soliloquy · harangue · tirade · sermon · lecture · address · pronouncement · proclamation · rhetoric · oratory
polysyllabic
Having many syllables
- sesquipedalianGiven to lengthy vocabulary
- aureateGolden or ornate
- elaborateComplex and detailed
embellished · ornamented · fancy · extravagant · grandiose · majestic · sonorous · resounding · decorous · formal
- literary devicesmetaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, alliteration
- rhetoricrhetoric, persuasion, oratory, argumentation, debate
- bombastbombast, magniloquence, pomposity, fustian, purple prose
- ornate languageverbosity, purple prose, rhetorical flourishes, amplification
- pretentiousnesspretentious, pretentiousness, pretension, pompous, pomposity
- Purple Proseflorid, verbose, overwrought, ornate, flowery
grandiloquenceplainness
Unadorned, straightforward quality
plain speech · simplicity · terseness · brevity · conciseness
grandiloquencemodesty
Absence of vanity
humility · unpretentiousness · reserve · restraint · self-effacement