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When a person is speaking or writing in a bombastic fashion, they are very self-centered, extremely showy, and excessively proud.
Circumlocution is a way of saying or writing something that uses too many words, especially in order to avoid stating the true meaning clearly.
Something convoluted, such as a difficult concept or procedure, is complex and takes many twists and turns.
If you describe someone, usually a young woman, as demure, you mean that she is quiet, shy, and always behaves modestly.
When something undergoes distortion, it is twisted out of shape in some way.
Someone who is dour is serious, stubborn, and unfriendly.
An exorbitant price or fee is much higher than what it should be or what is considered reasonable.
If something is flamboyant, it is brightly colored and highly decorated.
Something florid has too much decoration or is too elaborate.
Praise, an apology, or gratitude is fulsome if it is so exaggerated and elaborate that it does not seem sincere.
Hyperbole is a way of emphasizing something that makes it sound much more impressive or much worse than it actually is.
When something is implicit, it is understood or implied without having to say it.
If something is inordinate, it is much larger in amount or degree than is normally expected.
When you are acting in a melodramatic way, you are overreacting to something in an overly dramatic and exaggerated way.
Something meretricious seems good and useful; in fact, it’s just showy and does not have much value at all.
If you describe an action as ostentatious, you think it is an extreme and exaggerated way of impressing people.
A pithy statement or piece of writing is brief but intelligent; it is also precise and to the point.
Ponderous writing or speech is boring, highly serious, and seems very long and wordy; it definitely lacks both grace and style.
If you are pretentious, you think you are really great in some way and let everyone know about it, despite the fact that it’s not the case at all.
People who are reticent are unwilling to share information, especially about themselves, their thoughts, or their feelings.
Something that is succinct is clearly and briefly explained without using any unnecessary words.
To be terse in speech is to be short and to the point, often in an abrupt manner that may seem unfriendly.
Turgid writing or speech is excessively complicated, being filled with too many needlessly difficult words; consequently, such verbiage is boring and difficult to understand.
Something that is unadorned is not made more attractive with ornament or decoration.
If you repeat something verbatim, you use the same words that were spoken or written.
Something that is verbose, such as a speech or article, contains too many words.
Adj.
grandiloquent
gran-DIL-uh-kwuhnt
Context
Elizabeth found Edward’s invitation to the movies to be too flowery and grandiloquent. There really was no need for him to grandiloquently recite the request in rhyme, or for him to wear a top hat and speak in such a fancy way with such big words! Furthermore, his grandiloquent or overly formal expression embarrassed her since he read his poem in front of her soccer team at practice. It was only a date to the movies, after all, not a grandiloquent, impressive marriage proposal!
Quiz:Try again!
When is someone’s speech grandiloquent?
Grandiloquent speech is highly formal, exaggerated, and often seems both silly and hollow because it is expressly used to appear impressive and important.
Grandiose Eloquence Howard was too grandiose in his attempts to sound eloquent and sophisticated; he was being grandiloquent.
Examples
Paris' Le Monde praised organizers for providing 'a quite sober and well-done spectacle, alternating lightness and gravity, never grandiloquent or vulgar.'
—
Sports Illustrated
Another student, totally unprepared for his exam in Chinese history, labeled his blue book 'Number Two,' wrote a single grandiloquent concluding paragraph and handed it in.
—
TIME
While it is no doubt great fun to make grandiloquent proclamations about the need to defend 'minority rights', it gets us absolutely nowhere in resolving any of the critical issues: Which minorities?
—
The Economist
Naive, perhaps, but fundamentally not much different from President Bush’s grandiloquent words after the Columbia disaster: 'Mankind is led into the darkness beyond our world by the inspiration of discovery and the longing to understand.
—
The Washington Post