Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The utterance of few words.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun rare Brevity in speech.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncommon Economical speech; the use of few words when speaking; laconism.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Classical Latin pauciloquium ("the fact of speaking few words"), from pauci- ("little”, “few") + -loquium (from loquor ("I speak")).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pauciloquy.

Examples

  • I felt abashed at his pauciloquy; he had not yet told me how I could meet Father's friend.

    Autobiography of a Yogi Yogananda, Paramhansa, 1893-1952 1935

  • I felt abashed at his pauciloquy; he had not yet told me how I could meet Father's friend.

    Autobiography of a Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda 1922

  • ‘mirificent’, ‘palmiferous’ (all in Henry More), ‘pauciloquy’ and

    English Past and Present Richard Chenevix Trench 1846

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Brevity in speech.

    May 13, 2008

  • Use language with careful facility.

    Let silence project as humility.

    Some, when laconic,

    Seem downright moronic,

    The artful are praised for pauciloquy.

    September 8, 2017