Sunday, November 4, 2012

splendiferous

splendiferous \splen-DIF-er-uhs\, adjective:

Magnificent; fine.

"Then we'll build a charming villa, and plant a lovely garden round it, stuck all full of the most splendiferous tropical flowers, and we'll farm the land, plant, sow, reap, eat, sleep, and be merry."
-- R. M. Ballantyne, The Choral Island
[He] flew to the moon, thence back to earth and up the Orinoco impersonating a wild man but actually sound as a button, though no longer vulnerable, no longer mortal, a splendiferous hulk of a poem dedicated to the archipelago of insomnia.
-- Henry Miller, Tropic of Capricorn

Splendiferous is an elaboration of splendid, but owes its roots to the Latin splendere, "to shine," and ferre, "to bear."

No comments: