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Meaning of "officialese" in the English dictionary

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DICTIONARY
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PRONUNCIATION OF OFFICIALESE

officialese  [əˌfɪʃəˈliːz] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF OFFICIALESE

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Officialese is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES OFFICIALESE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Officialese

Officialese or bureaucratese[1][2] is a derogatory[3] term for language that sounds official.[4] It is the "language of officialdom".[5] Officialese is characterized by a preference for wordy, long sentences; a preference for complex words, code words or buzzwords over simple, traditional ones; a preference for vagueness over directness and a preference for passive over active voice[4][6]. The history of officialese can be traced to the history of officialdom, as far back as the eldest human civilizations and their surviving official writings.[8] Officialese is meant to impress the listener and increase the authority of the user, making him or her appear more professional.[5][4] Ernest Gowers noted that officialese also allows the user to remain vague.[4] It can be used to make oneself understood to insiders while being hard to decipher by those unfamiliar with the jargon and subtexts used.[9] Its use is known to put off members of the general public and reduce their interest in the material presented.

Definition of officialese in the English dictionary

The definition of officialese in the dictionary is language characteristic of official documents, esp when verbose or pedantic.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH OFFICIALESE


Belize
bəˈliːz
commercialese
kəˌmɜːʃəˈliːz
Congolese
ˌkɒŋɡəˈliːz
criminalese
ˌkrɪmɪnəˈliːz
federalese
ˌfɛdərəˈliːz
fleurs-de-lis
ˌflɜːdəˈliːz
journalese
ˌdʒɜːnəˈliːz
legalese
ˌliːɡəˈliːz
Nepalese
ˌnɛpəˈliːz
novelese
ˌnɒvəˈliːz
puh-leeze
ˌpəˈliːz
Senegalese
ˌsɛnɪɡəˈliːz
Singhalese
ˌsɪŋəˈliːz
Sinhalese
ˌsɪnhəˈliːz
Tirolese
ˌtɪrəˈliːz
Togolese
ˌtəʊɡəˈliːz
Tyrolese
ˌtɪrəˈliːz
valise
vəˈliːz
vocalese
ˌvəʊkəˈliːz
vocalise
ˌvəʊkəˈliːz

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE OFFICIALESE

official
Official Receiver
Official Referee
Official Secrets Act
Official Solicitor
official strike
officialdom
officialism
officiality
officially
officialty
officiant
officiaries
officiary
officiate
officiation
officiator
officinal
officinally
officious

WORDS THAT END LIKE OFFICIALESE

Auslese
Burmese
cheese
Chinese
forlese
Guyanese
imprese
Japanese
Lebanese
Maltese
mentalese
mese
obese
Portuguese
Sudanese
Surinamese
Taiwanese
these
Varese
Vietnamese

Synonyms and antonyms of officialese in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «officialese» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF OFFICIALESE

Find out the translation of officialese to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of officialese from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «officialese» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

官样文章
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

officialese
570 millions of speakers

English

officialese
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

दफ़तर
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

التصريحات الرسمية
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

чиновничий
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

oficialês
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

আমলাতান্ত্রিক দুর্বোধ্য ভাষা
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

langue de bois
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Rasmi
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Beamtensprache
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

officialese
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

관청
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Resmi
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

officialese
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

officialese
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

आधिकारिक
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

officialese
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

gergo burocratico
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

officialese
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

чиновницький
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

officialese
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

officialese
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

amptenaraanse
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

kansli
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

officialese
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of officialese

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «OFFICIALESE»

The term «officialese» is used very little and occupies the 165.525 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Rarely used
23
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «officialese» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of officialese
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «officialese».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «OFFICIALESE» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «officialese» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «officialese» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about officialese

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «OFFICIALESE»

Discover the use of officialese in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to officialese and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Garner on Language and Writing
ta,. ta,. ta,. Genteelisms,. Officialese,. and. Commercialese. MOST OF US NEED to work hard at being plainspoken. Oddly, achieving a natural style takes a lot of effort because of an unconscious tendency toward verbal inflation. When it comes ...
Bryan A. Garner, 2009
2
Janner's Complete Business Letterwriter
Officialese. and. jargon. For years I corresponded with a company secretary. ' Dear Sir/ he invariably began. 'Yours faithfully/ he ended. Courteous but curt, and slightly overpowering in aloof dignity. Obviously, I thought, the writer is a tough, ...
Greville Janner, Matthew Solon, 1998
3
Language History, Language Change, and Language ...
adoption, while the adaptation is officialese. For 'television', the situation is just about the opposite. (25) Adoption Adaptation Auto (general use) Wagen (general use) Kraftwagen (officialese) Radio (general use) Rundfunk (officialese) Telefon  ...
Hans Henrich Hock, Brian D. Joseph, 2009
4
Working with Language: A Multidisciplinary Consideration of ...
We may conclude by saying that any register which displays the features mentioned above is bound to be 'officialese' or civil service English. Some of these characteristics may of course be shared with other registers, but where all these ...
Hywel Coleman, 1989
5
Principles of Historical Linguistics
(45) Adoption Adaptation Dialekt (general and tech- Mundart (technical use and nical use) officialese) Salon 'living room' (lower- Wohnzimmer (educated and class) officialese) Auto (general use) Wagen (general use) Kraftwagen ( officialese) ...
Hans Henrich Hock, 1991
6
A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage
OFFICIALESE = the language of officialdom, characterized by bureaucratic turgidity and insubstantial fustian. The defining characteristic of officialese is the habitual use of inflated language that could be readily translated into simpler terms: ...
Bryan A. Garner, 2001
7
Several Worlds: Reminiscences and Reflections of a ...
Officialese. Taiwan is a country of paradoxes. On the one hand, people strive to be efficient, Americanized, and modern. On the other hand, many things get bogged down, projects are left unfinished or incomplete, and there is obvious ...
Monto Ho, 2005
8
Handbook Of Reporting And Communication Skills
Bureaucratize: Bureaucratize is a general name for a serious misuse of language . It is also called officialese. One writer calls officialese as 'the cancer of language' . Translation of bureaucratizes or officialese and jargon into everyday words is ...
V. S. Gupta, 2003
9
Communication Yearbook 17
The inconsistent logos, in combination with the officialese language, diluted the message to such an extent that I wonder if the readers from outside the board could understand how revolutionary the ideas expressed actually were. What was ...
Stanley A. Deetz, 2011
10
Unwritten Flaws of Indian Bureaucracy: Ground Rules of ...
2. Management. Information. System. 2.1. Officialese. 2.1 .1 . Vague rhetoric A statement is sufficiently vague, and is capable of capricious interpretations. Explanation: Bureaucracy has to cater to the aspirations of diverse pressure groups.
Barun Kumar Sahu, 2004

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «OFFICIALESE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term officialese is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Scam for a scam politics
Sir Ernest Gowers coined the term 'officialese' in 1948 to denote the pompous, abstract, euphemistic, polysyllabic and circumlocutory language ... «The Hans India, Jul 15»
2
A coup in Greece
... helpfully posted an annotated version on his blog, clearly aimed at an audience that is keen to strip the text of agreement of its officialese. «Frontline, Jul 15»
3
Opinion: Irritating business jargon that has to be silenced
... in the world of business jargon, or, as it is sometimes known, “officialese”, or, as it is more correctly known, “what a load of bollocks”. Let's see ... «Courier Mail, Jul 15»
4
David Cameron tells Civil Service to use simple language when …
“I would like to see jargon and 'officialese' banished forever,” she told them. “Plain English must be the aim of all who work in government.”. «The Independent, Jul 15»
5
SAA in tough talks to cut 10% of jobs
Beneath the veneer of the careful officialese used in the report, clearly evident is the frustration over the government's unwillingness to make ... «Times LIVE, Jul 15»
6
What happened to Persian?
How the Persian — or Persian-like — vocabulary lives on in modern officialese can be illustrated by quoting IbneInsha, that matchless satirist ... «Kasmir Monitor, Jul 15»
7
Password to an identity
A large number of people, both underground and 'above', known in officialese as Left Wing Extremists or LWEs, have their slogans, intensely ... «Calcutta Telegraph, Jul 15»
8
The Trial A verdict
The free-ranging adaptation by Nick Gill, a playwright, also conjures up characters, rearranges scenes and updates the language of officialese ... «The Economist, Jul 15»
9
EDITORIAL: Summit should hear views of region's people
... boring speeches and issue a rambling communiqué full of officialese on Saturday evening, by which time most people would have long been ... «Nation News, Jun 15»
10
Countdown to 2022 State lays out timeline for flood protection project
... Rosenblatt said, NJDEP will have settled on what it wants to build in Hoboken – its “preferred alternative,” in officialese – though reaching a ... «The Hudson Reporter, Jun 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Officialese [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/officialese>. Apr 2024 ».
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