inkhorn

adjective

Definition of inkhornnext
as in scholarly
marked by or given to showing knowledge in a showy way The writer apparently thought using a bunch of inkhorn terms would impress the reader and distract from the severely lacking plot.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for inkhorn
  1. scholarly
  2. academic
  3. scholastic
  4. intellectual
  5. pedantic
Adjective
  • In 2013, the ASA was one of the first major American scholarly associations to endorse an academic boycott of Israel.
    — Nancy Koppelman, Chicago Tribune, 3 Nov. 2026
  • The manuscript comprises the Bible (Old and New Testaments) and an assortment of other ancient historical, scholarly, and religious writings.
    — Laura Payne, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of scholarly
Adjective
  • The Brookings paper makes the same argument in academic terms.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Nancy’s British father, Gerald Cadogan, is an academic and archaeologist, and much of her childhood was spent on excavation sites in Cyprus and Crete.
    — Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of academic
Adjective
  • Jackson voted in June 2023 to accept a committee recommendation against passing LD 930, legislation seeking to restrict participation in women’s and girls’ scholastic sports.
    — Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 28 Oct. 2026
  • The coming-of-age drama, based on Coffey’s life, follows a high school student with mild cerebral palsy trying to wrestle for the school’s scholastic wrestling team.
    — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of scholastic
Adjective
  • This intellectual approach comes through her work at Diotima in similar but different ways.
    — Emily Mercer, Footwear News, 5 Nov. 2026
  • The project would also include 20 homes for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, retail space and a community park.
    — Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of intellectual
Adjective
  • Despite the rhetoric and anger, Satanic Planet don’t come off as preachy or pedantic.
    — Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Advertisement Given all the change that artificial intelligence is predicted to bring, quibbling over word choice might seem pedantic, like arguing about the Latin name of a tree’s species while the forest burns.
    — David Litt, Time, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of pedantic
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

inked
inkhorn
inking
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Inkhorn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inkhorn. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of abandon

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All