Word of the Day

Tuesday October 27, 2009

grandiloquent [gran-DIL-uh-kwuhnt]

adjective

Speaking in a lofty style; pompous; bombastic.

Though technically not an IMAX film, "Mystic India: An Incredible Journey of Inspiration" is billed as "the first large format epic on India." But as this promotional short masquerading as a documentary proves, size isn't everything. The seductive, grandiloquent voice of Peter O'Toole guides us through a greatest-hits package tour of Indian sites. Helicopters swoop us over the snowy Himalayas and across jagged ravines and raging rivers.

Ethan Gilsdorf, "An idealized ride through India", Boston Globe, May 22, 2009
As more countries declare their hand on Mr Blair's perceived suitability, a row is intensifying over exactly what job the former Prime Minister -- or anybody else -- will take up if and when the Lisbon treaty is ratified. Smaller countries led by Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands -- the Benelux trio -- want a narrow, chairman-style role for EU summits; Silvio Berlusconi and President Sarkozy believe that the president should become the grandiloquent face of Europe.

David Charter, "Blair's ambition to be first European president falters as critics voice doubts", The Times, Oct 17, 2009
The narrative was written in a very ornate and grandiloquent style, but the hero of the memoirs was so evidently a man of remarkable character, enterprise and adventure, that I saw in the few scattered bones of the story which he unfolded the skeleton of an ample historical romance.

Gilbert Parker (1862 - 1932) A Canadian novelist and British politician. The Seats Of The Mighty, Volume 1 (1896)

Origin of the Word

Grandiloquent, approximately 1589, derives from Latin grandiloquus "using lofty speech," from grandis "big" + -loquus "speaking," from loqui "speak."