eloquent

el·o·quent

adjective \ˈe-lə-kwənt\

Definition of ELOQUENT

1

: marked by forceful and fluent expression <an eloquent preacher>

2

: vividly or movingly expressive or revealing <an eloquent monument>

— el·o·quent·ly adverb

Examples of ELOQUENT

1. His success serves as an eloquent reminder of the value of hard work.
2. <an eloquent writer and speaker, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the founders of the women's rights movement>
3. He [H. L. Mencken] relished the vagaries of vernacular speech and paid eloquent homage to them in The American Language. —Jackson Lears, New Republic, 27 Jan. 2003
4. Samuel Johnson is palmed off in classrooms as a harmless drudge of a lexicographer, yet open the Dictionary anywhere and find precision and eloquent plainness. —Guy Davenport, The Geography of the Imagination, (1954) 1981
5. There was a burst of applause, and a deep silence which was even more eloquent than the applause. —Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge, 1886

Origin of ELOQUENT

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin eloquent-, eloquens, from present participle of eloqui to speak out, from e- + loqui to speak

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to ELOQUENT

Synonyms

articulate, fluent, silver-tongued, well-spoken

Antonyms

inarticulate, ineloquent, unvocal

Related Words

facile, glib, smooth-tongued, voluble; expressive, outspoken, verbal, vocal; blabby, chatty, garrulous, loquacious, talkative, verbose; unfaltering, unhesitating

Near Antonyms

faltering, halting, hesitant, maundering, mumbling, muttering, sputtering, stammering, stumbling, stuttering; mute, speechless, tongueless, tongue-tied, voiceless