Word of the Day
: June 9, 2025eloquent
playWhat It Means
An eloquent speaker or writer expresses ideas forcefully and fluently; an eloquent speech or piece of writing likewise expresses ideas in such a way. Eloquent can also describe something that is vividly or movingly expressive.
// She received high marks for her eloquent essay about gardening with her grandmother.
// Their success serves as an eloquent reminder of the value of hard work.
eloquent in Context
"Her [author Michelle Cusolito's] concise yet eloquent text immerses young people in the watery setting, letting them feel the whales' clicks as they 'tingle' and 'vibrate' and emphasizing the strength of these animals' social bonds." — Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2025
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."
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Quiz
Fill in the blanks to find a word used to describe a talkative person: g _ _ r _ l o _ _.
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