Meaning & use

turgidity

noun·Advanced

The state of being swollen, distended, or full of fluid, especially in a plant cell.

See it in a sentence

The plant's turgidity dropped noticeably after two days without water.

Critics mocked the essay's turgidity, calling its sentences bloated and hard to follow.

A note on using this word

Beyond its biological sense, turgidity can also describe writing that is pompous or needlessly inflated in style.

Words with a similar meaning

swelling

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

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