Jargonise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To use specialized language or terminology that is specific to a particular field or group
2. to obscure meaning through the use of complex expressions that may be difficult for outsiders to understand
3. to adapt language to sound more technical or professional in nature, often at the expense of clarity

Etymology: "Jargonise" is simply "jargon" with the verb-forming suffix "-ise" added, and it describes the act of turning plain speech into specialist-sounding language that outsiders struggle to follow. The base word "jargon" is the more interesting part of the story: it entered English in the Middle Ages with a meaning close to "chattering" or "warbling" of birds, and only later came to mean the unintelligible speech of a particular trade or group. Adding "-ise" (the British spelling of the suffix that appears in verbs like "modernise" or "standardise") turns that noun into an action. So to jargonise a sentence is to make it sound more technical than it needs to be, which is a fitting use for a word whose original sense was simply noise.

Synonyms: specialize, term, phrase, slang, lingo

Antonyms: simplify, clarify