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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.

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for inkhorn
  1. scholarly
  2. academic
  3. scholastic
  4. intellectual
  5. pedantic
Adjective
  • But all the biographical detail and the scholarly theorizing cannot complete the math.
    — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Both are craftsmen, interested in immediate emotional response over esoteric scholarly unpacking.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of scholarly
Adjective
  • Inside the closed cockpits of WEC’s two classes of sports car, the difference may be academic.
    — Patrick Iversen, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Two decades and many drafts later, the project pulled in her academic background in gender studies alongside something more personal.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of academic
Adjective
  • Go literal with scholastic motifs, or keep it subtle with bright colors and minimalist designs.
    — Odeya Pinkus, InStyle, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The Union’s move is a small reversal of a decades-long trend away from scholastic sports as a soccer development tool.
    — Sara Germano, Sportico.com, 19 June 2026
Definition of scholastic
Adjective
  • The play becomes an intellectual exercise — often a technically compelling one, and one that thankfully observes the comedy of Chekhov’s struggling souls as much as their tragedy.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The political climate that culminated in the 1940 Constitution was embraced by much of Cuba’s artistic and intellectual community as part of a broader quest for democracy and modernization.
    — Dennys Matos, Miami Herald, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of intellectual
Adjective
  • Only instead of crusading against the evils of dancing teenagers, our most pedantic podcasters have joined forces to convince their audiences that Tony Romo should be doing the Texas two-step to the nearest unemployment office.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 11 Aug. 2026
  • The best tended to use puns, literalization — turning an idiom into reality — and pedantic humor to delight and torment children in equal measures.
    — Lindsey Bever, Washington Post, 21 June 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
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Cite this Entry

“Inkhorn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inkhorn. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

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