1. an elaborate, ornate, and artificial style of writing or speaking characterized by excessive use of literary devices, alliteration, and flowery language
Usage: literary; often considered affected or pretentious

Examples

• The author’s euphuism made the novel difficult to read despite its interesting plot.
• Critics dismissed the politician’s speech as mere euphuism designed to impress rather than inform.
• Shakespeare occasionally mocked the euphuism popular in Elizabethan court literature.
• The professor warned students against euphuism in their academic writing.
• Her euphuism alienated readers who preferred straightforward prose.
• The playwright’s early works were marked by euphuism that he later abandoned for simpler language.