grandiloquent

[ gran-dil-uh-kwuhnt ]

adjective

1. speaking or expressed in a lofty style, often to the point of being pompous or bombastic.

   Synonyms: pretentious, rhetorical, inflated, turgid

   Antonyms: sincere, simple

grandiloquent

/ ɡrænˈdɪləkwənt /

adjective

1. inflated, pompous, or bombastic in style or expression

Derived Forms

• granˈdiloquently, adverb
• granˈdiloquence, noun

Other Words From

• gran·dilo·quent·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of grandiloquent¹

First recorded in 1585–95; grandiloqu(ence) + -ent

Word History and Origins

Origin of grandiloquent¹

C16: from Latin grandiloquus, from grandis great + loquī to speak

Example Sentences

“Liquid silk,” “otherworldly,” “heaven in a cup,” and more resounding, grandiloquent, highly praiseful words and phrases fill your mind when you taste this amazing brew.

From Salon

But it is one that predictably becomes more complicated in the Situation Room than it seems at the podium during a grandiloquent speech.

From New York Times

They sometimes drew on the singing talents of Mr. Lee and his two sisters, Consuela Lee Moorehead, a jazz pianist and music teacher at Hampton University in Virginia, and Grace Lee Mims, a librarian, whose voices lent grandiloquent color to the tales.

From New York Times

“Mott Street” is less successful when it awkwardly strains for a kind of grandiloquent universality, as when she asks, “Who among us wouldn’t contemplate our own mortality in the seemingly endless hours spent in a dark, airless, body-sized box?” referring to her relatives’ journey to the United States.

From Washington Post

When he waxed poetic about his salad days as the page of the Duke of Norfolk, his voice turned light, proud and assured — grandiloquent, yes, but also creditable.

From New York Times