sesquipedalianism

Meaning

Noun

• The practice of using long, sometimes obscure, words in speech or writing.
• A very long word.

Origin

• Surface form analyzed as sesquipedalian + -ism, from sesqui- + pedalian.
• From Latin sēsquipedālis ("a foot and a half long; in metaphorical use, “of an unnatural length, huge, big”"), from sēsqui + pedālis.