English Language & Usage Asked on August 9, 2020
Instead of using a common word like “sad”, one can use “morose” to make a more vivid image. Or in professional fields words like “pedagogy” are used instead of a more common word like “education”. We usually see this kind of vocabulary in academic writing or literature, which require ideas to be expressed more precisely than normally.
Is there a name for this? I have thought about:
Example usage: by learning the ______ vocabulary, my writing is sharper and mightier.
I would like the word to convey the sense of “making the message more precise”
Most of the time, "plain" words have synonyms that sound more sophisticated or advanced. These synonyms are usually obscure and sometimes difficult to understand. Certain dictionaries, Google's in particular, will classify them as archaic, meaning the word is dated, rare, meaning the word is uncommonly used, or literary, meaning the word is almost always used in writing and literature rather than speech and everyday use.
Otherwise, these words are known by a very wide variety of terms, the most common being the first and third you mentioned: advanced and academic vocabulary. I have also heard this broad category referred to as "high-leveled", "sophisticated", and "intellectual".
Correct answer by Symantra on August 9, 2020
The closest adjective I found is ornate:
1.1(Of literary style) using unusual words and complex constructions. [Lexico]
Answered by alwayslearning on August 9, 2020
I can't tell, since you also throw in the suggestion of a more precise meaning, but in most of the cases that I'm guessing you have in mind there is no added precision. There is mainly a shift from words of Anglo-Saxon origin to words of Latin (e.g. French) origin.
In the latter context, and especially for academese, I'd offer the adjective "hifalutin".
Such words are often associated with having a larger vocabulary because they are often learned after similar-meaning Anglo-Saxon words are learned. This does not mean that their use is necessarily, or even usually, more precise.
Too often it means that someone who does not in fact have such a large vocabulary or who cannot (or cannot be bothered to) express things precisely tries to hide this by seeming to sound knowledgeable (erudite) and authoritative.
Le mot juste in a given context might just as easily be a simple, everyday word borrowed or derived from Anglo-Saxon as one borrowed or derived from Latin. This is in spite of the impression you might get reading academic writing.
An exception is of course those terms defined in the sciences (esp. medical and biological) to have very specific meanings and which are constructions based on bits of Latin or Greek.
Answered by Drew on August 9, 2020
Florid is a great one.
Florid: (of language) using unusual words or complicated rhetorical constructions. [Oxford Dictionaries]
Answered by Sam on August 9, 2020
Get help from others!
Recent Answers
Recent Questions
© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP