orotund means of a voice: characterized by clarity, fullness, smoothness, and strength of sound; hence, of a person: having a clear, full, and strong voice, appropriate for public speaking, reading aloud, etc.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, orotund ranks #7,102 of 14,448 for Funniest Words.
orotund is pronounced /ˈɒɹə(ʊ)tʌnd/.
Why “orotund” is a great word
Possessing a full, rich, clear, and powerfully resonant quality in voice or speech, often with a formal or pompous inflection. From the Latin phrase ōre rotundō, from ōre (ablative of ōs, 'mouth') and rotundō (ablative of rotundus, 'round'), literally meaning 'with a round mouth,' first attested in English in 1792. Unlike 'resonant,' which merely describes a deep and vibrating sound, or 'bombastic,' which condemns inflated rhetoric, orotund occupies a nuanced middle ground, capable of neutrally praising a voice's pleasing fullness before subtly tilting toward critique. It is the trained, barrel-chested projection of a classical actor, the self-satisfied cadence of a politician's address, and the clear, carrying tone of a cathedral chorister—a sound that fills a space completely, aware of its own grandeur and perhaps a little too pleased with itself.
Etymology
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin ōre rotundō (“with a round mouth; hence, clear; loud”) (whence English ore rotundo), possibly influenced by rotund (“having a curved, round, or spherical shape; (figurative) of sound: full and rich”). Ōre rotundō is composed of ōre (the ablative singular of ōs (“mouth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óh₃s (“mouth”)) + rotundō (the ablative singular of rotundus (“circular, round”) (possibly from rota (“wheel”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Hreth₂- (“to run”)) + -undus (suffix forming adjectives)). The noun is derived from the adjective.
adj
- Of a voice: characterized by clarity, fullness, smoothness, and strength of sound; hence, of a person: having a clear, full, and strong voice, appropriate for public speaking, reading aloud, etc.
- Of writing, etc.: clear, effective, powerful.
- Of speech or writing: bombastic, pompous.“A series of U.N. and government officials spoke. And spoke. And spoke. Their words were grand, their sentences endless. In orotund turns of phrase—indeed, in spiraling helices of phrase; in snarled fishing lines of phrase; in endless small intestines of phrase—the speakers ingeniously explored and invented connections between qwerty, alphabetical filing, and socioeconomic advance.”
noun
- A voice characterized by clarity, fullness, smoothness, and strength of sound.
- The quality of clarity, effectiveness, and power in speech or writing.
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