ten-dollar word
Unnecessarily fancy language
A ten-dollar word is an obscure or fancy word used where a simpler one would do—implying the speaker is showing off vocabulary rather than communicating clearly.
The metaphor suggests paying too much: Why say "defenestrate" when you could just say "throw out the window"?
The phrase is mildly teasing, not hostile.
Pretentiously elevated in speech
- pompousAffectedly grand in manner
- bombasticExcessively inflated language
- ostentatiousShowily excessive
- highfalutinAffectedly superior or fancy
affected · showy · flowery · overblown · grandiose · magniloquent · sesquipedalian · orotund
Vocabulary of a language
- polysyllabicHaving many syllables
- multisyllabicHaving many syllables
- obscureUnknown to most
- esotericAccessible to few
recondite · arcane · abstruse · learned · scholarly · bookish · literary · erudite
Fluent and persuasive
- articulateExpress clearly, or well-spoken
- rhetoricalUsing language for effect
- oratoryFormal eloquent discourse
- declamationForceful, theatrical speaking
elocution · pronunciation · enunciation · diction · verbose · loquacious · circumlocution · long-winded
grandiloquent
Pretentiously elevated in speech
- pompousAffectedly grand in manner
- bombasticExcessively inflated language
- ostentatiousShowily excessive
highfalutin · affected · showy · flowery · overblown · grandiose · magniloquent · sesquipedalian · orotund · turgid
lexicon
Vocabulary of a language
- polysyllabicHaving many syllables
- multisyllabicHaving many syllables
- obscureUnknown to most
esoteric · recondite · arcane · abstruse · learned · scholarly · bookish · literary · erudite · pedantic
eloquent
Fluent and persuasive
- articulateExpress clearly, or well-spoken
- rhetoricalUsing language for effect
- oratoryFormal eloquent discourse
declamation · elocution · pronunciation · enunciation · diction · verbose · loquacious · circumlocution · long-winded · windy
ten-dollar wordplain speech
Unembellished verbal expression
basic vocabulary · plain language · monosyllable · plain English · vernacular
ten-dollar wordlayman's terms
Non-specialist phrasing
accessible language · plain talk · straight talk · words of one syllable · common parlance
dollar, dollars, word, words, worded, wording, wordless, wordsmith