Inkhornism

But the virus of unrestrained inkhornism lurks today, ready to damage the prose of writers who think there are no words in the language sufficiently refined to communicate their ideas and who believe that long, impressive-sounding words must represent impressive ideas.

Mr. Will, whose inkhornisms remain a weekly treat, has had tough words for former White Housers who write tell-all books, so the younger George had better watch his tongue.

Grandiloquent terms in particular aimed to dignify the pedestrian. People might use “pseudo-Latinisms for relatively common things,” similar to the 17th-century inkhornisms that preceded them, Sheidlower said.