eloquent

adjective

el·​o·​quent ˈe-lə-kwənt 

1

: marked by forceful and fluent expression

an eloquent preacher

2

: vividly or movingly expressive or revealing

an eloquent monument

eloquently adverb

Did you know?

Words are powerful, especially when strung together in just the right sequence. A well-crafted sentence (or one who crafts it) might be described as eloquent, a word that comes from the Latin verb loquī, meaning "to talk or speak." (The adjective loquacious is another loquī descendent; it describes a person who is skilled at or has an affinity for talking.) Words are not alone in conveying emotion, and eloquent is also used to describe what we find vividly or movingly expressive, as when novelist and poet Thomas Hardy wrote of "a burst of applause, and a deep silence which was even more eloquent than the applause."

Synonyms

• articulate
• fluent
• silver-tongued
• well-spoken

Examples of eloquent in a Sentence

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

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

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

His success serves as an eloquent reminder of the value of hard work.

an eloquent writer and speaker, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the founders of the women's rights movement

Recent Examples on the Web

Kevin Harlan and Ernie Johnson Jr. delivered eloquent, graceful sign-offs when TNT concluded 35 years of NBA coverage on Saturday night. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 3 June 2025

Patti LuPone, fresh off the set of And Just Like That…, has caused an internet kerfuffle with her astute (and deliciously eloquent) jabs at costars, former lovers, theatergoers, and even Times Square pedestrians in her recent profile in The New Yorker. —Raven Smith, Vogue, 28 May 2025

There is the beautiful proverb about the woman of strength (Proverbs 31:10-31), that is perhaps the most eloquent text on women in the Bible. —Arkansas Online, 9 May 2025

The Vault's Amir Yass said Sweetin's response to the backlash over the 2024 Olympic performance was eloquent. —Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 30 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin ēloquent-, ēloquens "capable of speech, expressing oneself fluently," from present participle of ēloquī "to utter, put into words," from ē- e- entry 1 + loquī "to talk, speak," probably going back to dialectal Indo-European *tlok^w- "talk," whence also Old Irish ad-tluichethar "(s/he) gives thanks" (originally with buide "thanks" as object, as in atluchedar buidi do Día "he thanks God"), do-tluichethar "(s/he) desires, beseeches, asks," Old Church Slavic tlŭk "interpreter" (from *tl̥k^w-o-)

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing eloquent

• wax eloquent

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Kids Definition

eloquent

adjective

el·​o·​quent ˈel-ə-kwənt 

1

: having or showing clear and forceful expression

an eloquent speaker

an eloquent essay

2

: clearly showing some feeling or meaning

an eloquent look

eloquently adverb