Meanings
plural lexiphanes
- rareOne who uses bombastic or pretentious wording or language.
At least I'm not lexiphanic; I'm just a lexiphane. :))
2003 January 18, Laurelin Vernet, “Re: BIG STEVE'S STARGATE REVIEW: "Sight Unseen" **SPOILERS**”, in alt.tv.stargate-sg1 (Usenet)2 more examples
That online essayist probably strives to be a logodaedalist, but he's just a lexiphane.
2003 August 26, Lalbert1, “Re: Word Usage”, in alt.fan.cecil-adams (Usenet)Campbell tells his dedicatee Lord Lyttelton that he "ought not to suffer those Lexiphanes, those Shiners, those Dealers in hard words, and absurd phrases, those fabricators of Triads and Quaternions" (p. xvii).
2005, Howard D. Weinbrot, Aspects of Samuel Johnson, page 166Synonyms: lexiphanic
Synonyms & antonyms
nounOne who uses bombastic or pretentious wording or language.
Origin
From Lexiphanes, a character of Lucian of Samosata's. By surface analysis, lexi- (word) + -phane (“appearing”).
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
lexiphane. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lexiphane
“lexiphane.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lexiphane. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lexiphane,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lexiphane.
Source: lexiphane on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.