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English
Etymology
inkhorn + -ism
Noun
inkhornism (countable and uncountable, plural inkhornisms)
- Pedantry; a preference for inkhorn terms.
1993, Kenneth G. Wilson, The Columbia Guide to Standard American English, page 248:But the virus of unrestrained inkhornism lurks today, ready to damage the prose of writers who think there are no words in the language sufficiently refined to communicate their ideas and who believe that long, impressive-sounding words must represent impressive ideas.
- (countable) An inkhorn term.
1997 February 1, Walter Goodman, “The Role of Partisans in a Neutral Business”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:Mr. Will, whose inkhornisms remain a weekly treat, has had tough words for former White Housers who write tell-all books, so the younger George had better watch his tongue.
2021 November 9, Max Harrison-Caldwell, “Words Full of Sound and Fury”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:Grandiloquent terms in particular aimed to dignify the pedestrian. People might use “pseudo-Latinisms for relatively common things,” similar to the 17th-century inkhornisms that preceded them, Sheidlower said.