purple prose
Excessively ornate language
Purple prose is writing so extravagant, ornate, or emotional that it draws attention to itself rather than its subject.
The term is pejorative—purple prose overwrites, piling on adjectives and melodrama where restraint would serve better: The novel's purple prose made every sunset a symphony of crimson passion.
The color purple suggests something too rich, almost gaudy.
Excessively inflated language
- pompousAffectedly grand in manner
- grandiloquentPretentiously elevated in speech
- magniloquentUsing pompous, elevated rhetoric
- orotundBombastically resonant in speech
highfalutin · pretentious · affected · ostentatious · self-important · declamatory · stentorian · theatrical
Excessively ornate or ruddy
- floweryElaborately ornamental in style
- embellishedDecorated or exaggerated
- baroqueExcessively ornate or elaborate
- rococoExcessively elaborate in style
elaborate · decorative · gilded · adorned · luxuriant · opulent · sumptuous · rich
Excessively emotional or elaborate
- overwrittenReplaced with new data
- verboseMore words than necessary
- wordyUsing more language than necessary
- long-windedExcessively wordy, tediously so
padded · bloated · inflated · rambling · prolix · superfluous · redundant · overblown
Exaggerated beyond reason
- effusiveUnrestrainedly emotional in expression
- gushyExcessively emotional
- breathlessLacking air, gasping
- exclamatoryExpressing strong feeling
superlative · overwritten · sesquipedalian · polysyllabic · aureate · inkhorn · rhetorical
Sensational, emotionally overwrought drama
- potboilerWork made for money
- bodice-ripperSensational romantic fiction
- pulpSoft wet mass
- sentimentalExcessively emotional about memories
histrionic · lurid · sensationalist · overwrought · trashy · gushing · breathless · swooning
bombastic
Excessively inflated language
- pompousAffectedly grand in manner
- grandiloquentPretentiously elevated in speech
- magniloquentUsing pompous, elevated rhetoric
orotund · highfalutin · pretentious · affected · ostentatious · self-important · declamatory · stentorian · theatrical · melodramatic
florid
Excessively ornate or ruddy
- floweryElaborately ornamental in style
- embellishedDecorated or exaggerated
- baroqueExcessively ornate or elaborate
rococo · elaborate · decorative · gilded · adorned · luxuriant · opulent · sumptuous · rich · lavish
overwrought
Excessively emotional or elaborate
- overwrittenReplaced with new data
- verboseMore words than necessary
- wordyUsing more language than necessary
long-winded · padded · bloated · inflated · rambling · prolix · superfluous · redundant · overblown · turgid
hyperbolic
Exaggerated beyond reason
- effusiveUnrestrainedly emotional in expression
- gushyExcessively emotional
- breathlessLacking air, gasping
exclamatory · superlative · overwritten · sesquipedalian · polysyllabic · aureate · inkhorn · rhetorical
melodrama
Sensational, emotionally overwrought drama
- potboilerWork made for money
- bodice-ripperSensational romantic fiction
- pulpSoft wet mass
sentimental · histrionic · lurid · sensationalist · overwrought · trashy · gushing · breathless · swooning · torrid
- writingwriting, drafting, authors, author, books
- Color Idiomsblack sheep, blue moon, green light, red flag, white lie
- writing stylesformal, informal, minimalism, maximalism, concise
- literary devicesmetaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, alliteration
- rhetoricrhetoric, persuasion, oratory, argumentation, debate
- bad writingflat characters, cliches, stock characters, derivative work, one-dimensional
purple prosestraightforward
Clear and uncomplicated
concise · to the point · simple · plain-spoken · direct
purple, prose, purpling, purpler, purplest, purpleness, purpleheart, purple patch