By their formidable intellect and persuasiveness as well as their personal charm, Rehnquist and Scalia stand at least a chance of making the [Supreme Court] more cohesive and coherent. Their judicial opinions will be more sprightly and readable than the turgid fare churned out by most of their brethren. (Evan Thomas, Reagan’s Mr. Right — Rehnquist is Picked for the Court’s Top Job, Time, 06/30/1986, p. 24.)
I read Hugh Trevor-Roper’s demolition of Arnold Toynbee’s ten-volume Study of History, in a 1957 essay … with a feeling of immense relief and gratitude, knowing that I would never have to slog my way through those turgid books. (Joseph Epstein, “Essays in Biography”, Axios (2019), p. 367.)
This word can also be a synonym for pretentious, ostentatious or bombastic.
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