From Music Since 1900, by Nicolas Slonimsky, pp. 1489-1490:
Sesquipedalian Macropolysyllabiflcation. Quaquaversal lucubration about pervicacious torosity and diverticular prosiliency in diatonic formication and chromatic papulation, engendering carotic carmination and decubital nyctalopia, causing borborygmic susurration, teratological urticulation, macroptic dysmimia, bregmatic obstipation, crassamental quisquiliousness, hircinous olophonia and unfiexanimous luxation, often produce volmerine cacumination and mitotic ramuliferousness leading to operculate onagerosity and testaceous favillousness, as well as faucal obsonation, parallelepipedal psellismus, pigritudinous mysophia, cimicidal conspurcation, mollitious deglutition and cephalotripsical stultitiousness, resulting despite Hesychastic oniphaloskepsis, in epenetic opistography, boustrophedonic malacology, lampadodromic evagination, chartulary cadastration, merognostic heautotimerousness, favaginous moliminosity, fatiscent operosity, temulencious libration and otological oscininity, aggravated by tardigrade lnturgescence, nucamentacious oliguria, emunctory stemutatlon, veneficial pediculation, fremescent dyskinesla, hispidinous cynanthropy, torminal opitulation, crapulous vellication, hippuric rhinodynia, dyspnelc nimiety and favillous erethlsm, and culminating in opisthographlc lnconcinnlty, scotophlliac lipothimia, banaustic rhinorrhea, dehiscent fasciculation, oncological vomiturition, nevoid paludality, exomphalic invultuation, mysophiliac excrementatiousness, flagitious dysphoria, lipogrammatic bradygraphy, orectic aprosexia, parataxic parorexia, lucubicidal nutation, permutational paranomasia, rhoncial fremitus, specular subsaltation, crapulous ctepitation, ithyphallic acervation, procephalic dyscrasia, volitional volitation, piscine dermatology, proleptic pistology, verrucous alopecia, hendecaphonic combinatoriality, microaerophilic pandiculation and quasihemidemisemibreviate illation.
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I came across this lovely term and even lovelier definition while in graduate school. No, I am not now nor have I ever been a music major. Yes, I do think Slonimsky was having way too much fun.
As for what (briefly) “sesquipedalian macropolysyllabiflcation” means: it describes the process of making long words by slamming together many strings of syllables. This evening the term came to mind while trying to puzzle out why the EPA banned select members of the press from a public presentation.
