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Johnsonese
[ jon-suh-neez, -nees ]
noun
- a literary style characterized by rhetorically balanced, often pompous phraseology and an excessively Latinate vocabulary: so called from the style of writing practiced by Samuel Johnson.
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Word History and Origins
Origin of Johnsonese1
First recorded in 1835–45; (Samuel) Johnson + -ese
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Example Sentences
The stuffed buckram of Johnsonese had been succeeded by the mincing hifalutin of Mrs. Anne Radcliffe and her like.
From Project Gutenberg
When he wrote for publication he did his sentences out of English into Johnsonese.
From Project Gutenberg
But Johnson seems to have written Johnsonese from his cradle.
From Project Gutenberg
What sort of an appearance would they present when furnished in a blend of Johnsonese and his own stheticism?
From Project Gutenberg
Sebastian, for his part, might have found some difficulty in translating into Johnsonese the twisted asceticism of Stuart Heron.
From Project Gutenberg
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