Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

sesquipedalian

/ˌsɛs.kwɪ.pɪˈdeɪ.lɪ.ən/ adjective, noun

Forms sesquipedalians

  1. adjective (of a word or words) Long; polysyllabic. “The most common use of "antidisestablishmentarianism" is as an example of a sesquipedalian word.”
  2. adjective Pertaining to or given to the use of overly long words. “Our dinner guest was so sesquipedalian that no one could understand what he said.”
  3. noun A long word.
  4. noun A person who uses long words.

Synonyms

polysyllabic circumlocutory diffuse periphrastic palaverous pleonastic prolix rigmarole verbose wordy brief concise crisp laconic lapidary short-winded succinct tight to the point taut sesquipedalia

Antonyms

monosyllabic brachysyllabic

Etymology

From sesquipedal + -ian (adjective- and noun-forming suffix), root from Latin sēsquipedālis (literally “a foot and a half long”), from Latin sēsqui (“one and a half times”) + Latin pedālis (“measuring a foot, foot (relational)”) (an adjective from pēs (“foot”)).

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Measuring or containing a foot and a half; as, a sesquipedalian pygmy; --sometimes humorously applied to long words.

Etymology [Sesqui- + pedal: cf. F. sesquipédal, L. sesquipedalis.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sesquipedalian”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details