phrasemonger

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person who habitually uses showy, overelaborate, or empty phrases

   The translator was a careful stylist, not a phrasemonger hiding weak ideas behind grand language.

2. 2
   verb

   to speak or write in showy, overelaborate, or empty phrases

   Instead of answering the objection directly, the speaker began to phrasemonger.

A compound of phrase + monger. Monger once neutrally meant a dealer or trader, but in compounds such as this it often became disparaging, suggesting someone who produces or promotes an excessive or disreputable kind of thing.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images