BLOVIATE

[Dr. Goodword]

• bloviate •

Pronunciation: blo-vee-eyt • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Verb, intransitive (used with about and on)

Meaning: (U.S. Slang) To speechify, using highfaluting words; to speak or write verbosely and windily.

Notes: As the Word History will point out, this word does not follow the usual rules of word formation. However, since fanciful words like this one are often accepted (they do add spice to speech), you should feel free to use it. This one has been around long enough to have earned considerable respectability, including a healthy family that includes an action noun, bloviation, an actor noun, bloviator, and an adjective, bloviating.

In Play: If you bloviate, you bloviate about something or on some topic: "There goes Gene Poole again, bloviating about his grandchildren." Bloviation can be a symptom of obfuscation: "The financial report begins well enough but ends up bloviating about the economic theories of the CFO."

Word History: Today's Good Word started out in the middle of the 19th century as a mock-Latin word. It is based on the English verb blow, itself semantically associated with blow-hard "braggart" and blow smoke "brag, deceive". The Latin suffix -iate was then tacked on to add to the sense of the highfaluting. The English word blow developed naturally via Old English blawen from PIE *bhle(w)- that underlies bladder, blister, and blast. It has nothing to do with Latin.

[Slava]

This one is yet another great one for describing politicians.

Bloviating blatherskites and the codswallop they dump on us.

[LukeJavan8]

Definitely.
Reminds me of the "Senator" in the comic "Shoe"
and here in this state we have had plenty of them
most recently Ben Nelson, who can be added to
the term's description.

[LukeJavan8]

This one is yet another great one for describing politicians.

Bloviating blatherskites and the codswallop they dump on us.

Really nice sentence: Bloviating blatherskites and the
codswallop they dump on us.