Vaniloquence

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of speaking at length without meaningful content, characterized by empty or meaningless talk
2. A manner of talking that involves verbose and pointless speech lacking substance
3. The tendency to use grandiose but hollow language that contributes little of value

Etymology: "Vaniloquence" is a rare English noun built from two Latin parts: "vanus", meaning "vain" or "empty", and "loquentia", meaning "talk" or "speech". Put together, the pieces describe speech that is empty and worthless, which matches its modern sense of verbose talk that says very little. The "vani-" element is the same root that gives English "vanity" and "vain", so the word's first half shares a family with words for emptiness and pride. The second half, from "loquentia", belongs to the same Latin stem as "loquacious" and "eloquence", which makes "vaniloquence" a close cousin of "eloquence" with the sense turned upside down: where eloquence is fine speaking, this is speaking that amounts to nothing.

Synonyms: empty talk, banter, gossip, prattle, chatter

Antonyms: substance, seriousness, depth, meaning, weight