A.Word.A.Day --sesquipedalian

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Today's Word

sesquipedalian

PRONUNCIATION:

(ses-kwi-pi-DAYL-yuhn)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Polysyllabic.
2. Relating to or using long words.
3. Long-winded.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin sesqui- (one and a half) + ped- (foot). First recorded use: 1615.

NOTES:

“Sesquipedalian” is a long word about long words. Literally speaking, a sesquipedalian word is one and a half feet long. A related word is sesquicentennial (150th anniversary). Also see sesquipedality.

USAGE:

“Their explanations might have been completely legitimate, or they might have been sesquipedalian bushwa.”
Orson Scott Card & Aaron Johnston; Earth Unaware; Tor Books; 2012.

See more usage examples of sesquipedalian in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I talk about going to his [George W. Bush's] Inauguration and crying when he took the oath, 'cause I was so afraid he was going to "wreck the economy and muck up the drinking water" ... the failure of my pessimistic imagination at that moment boggles my mind now. -Sarah Vowell, author and journalist (b. 27 Dec 1969)

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