Definition of "euphuism" [eu•phu•ism]

• An affectedly elegant literary style of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, characterized by elaborate alliteration, antitheses, and similes. (noun)
• Affected elegance of language. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Al – Saj’a, the fine style or style fleuri, also termed Al – Badí‘a, or euphuism, is the basis of all"
• "The literary affectation called euphuism was directly based on the precepts of the handbooks on rhetoric; its author, John Lyly, only elaborated and made more precise tricks of phrase and writing, which had been used as exercises in the schools of his youth."
• "If you are looking for a different sort of book – one that you can keep on the bedside table without worrying which page you were at the night before – I recommend this excellent little book, which is full of fascinating and witty definitions of words such as euphuism and orphism."