Meaning & use
stilted language
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Meaning
noununcountabledisapproving
Speech or writing that sounds stiff, overly formal and unnatural, as if the speaker is not at ease.
Grammar: Uncountable: stilted language ruins a story.
Patterns
- stilted language in something
- write in stilted language
The dialogue was full of stilted language that no real person would use.
He spoke in stilted language during the interview because he was nervous.
Editors cut the stilted language from the manual to make it clearer.
Common combinations
- use stilted language
- The author tends to use stilted language in the love scenes.
- stilted language and dialogue
- The film was ruined by stilted language and dialogue.
- avoid stilted language
- To sound natural, avoid stilted language.
- speak in stilted language
- Foreign speakers sometimes speak in stilted language when they are nervous.
- stilted formal language
- Legal letters can be full of stilted formal language.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stiff language
- Stiff language is a plainer phrase and suggests rigidity but not necessarily lack of naturalness.
- wooden prose
- Wooden prose says writing lacks life, especially in fiction.
- formal language
- Formal language is neutral, whereas stilted language is a fault.
- affected speech
- Affected speech implies pretending to be educated or posh, which is different from sounding awkward.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: stilted language or stylish?
stilted language vs stylish
Stylish means fashionable and elegant, while stilted language is awkward and unnatural.
Practice
The translator's ____ made the novel sound lifeless and robotic.
Choose one answer.
Stilted language is stiff and unnatural, which explains why the novel sounds robotic. The other options are positive or would not cause that effect.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stilted language”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.