carlylese means A style of writing characteristic of Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), Scottish essayist and historian. It carries an Arena rating of 1209, earned across 9 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, carlylese ranks #4,091 of 13,225 for Funniest Words, #5,069 of 13,225 for Most Incisive Words, #5,248 of 13,225 for Most Exacting Words, #5,264 of 13,225 for The Improbable.
Why “carlylese” is a great word
A style of writing marked by eccentric syntax, archaisms, prophetic exclamation, and a tumultuous, thundering rhythm. From the surname Carlyle (of Thomas Carlyle) + the suffix -ese (forming nouns denoting a style of language). First attested in 1858 in the Saturday Review. Unlike 'Carlylism' (which refers to his ideas and doctrines) or 'journalese' (which implies a cheap, clichéd formula), Carlylese is the very texture of his thought—a literary storm system. It is the Germanic inversion of a sentence straining under its own prophetic weight, the sudden, archaic 'whither' and 'verily' erupting in a paragraph, and the relentless capitalization of abstract Nouns into looming presences. It is language not as a clear window, but as a hammer forged to shape a chaotic world by the sheer force of its sound.
Etymology
From Carlyle + -ese.
noun
- A style of writing characteristic of Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), Scottish essayist and historian.
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