belletristic

adjective

variants also belle-lettristic
Definition of belletristicnext
as in literary

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for belletristic
  1. literary
  2. declamatory
  3. bombastic
  4. scholastic
  5. pompous
  6. grandiloquent
  7. florid
  8. stilted
Adjective
  • In the 1968 essay A Native Hill, Berry wrote about his decision to leave behind the New York literary world just two years into his career, in favor of his home county in Kentucky.
    — Tilda Wilson, NPR, 1 Sep. 2026
  • This debut feature is a semi-autobiographical film about a young woman working as an intern at a literary magazine in New York who is vying for acceptance in the upper crust literary world.
    — Brian Welk, IndieWire, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of literary
Adjective
  • Indeed, the narrator is resigned to death—if not the declamatory death of her friend in the lecture hall, at least the fact of death happening elsewhere, on the global stage.
    — Maya Binyam, New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2026
  • These sound particularly good in Morgan’s mouth, with his non-actory, declamatory way of speaking.
    — Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2026
Definition of declamatory
Adjective
  • Compared with other mega-chain coffee purveyors, Dutch Bros’ menu skews more bombastic and creative.
    — Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Sure enough, during our interview, her answers betray a bombastic staccato honed on the stump.
    — Charlie Campbell, Time, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of bombastic
Adjective
  • Go literal with scholastic motifs, or keep it subtle with bright colors and minimalist designs.
    — Odeya Pinkus, InStyle, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The Union’s move is a small reversal of a decades-long trend away from scholastic sports as a soccer development tool.
    — Sara Germano, Sportico.com, 19 June 2026
Definition of scholastic
Adjective
  • Does little Arabella care about going to another stuffy awards dinner with her pompous dad?
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 17 July 2026
  • Among them a City boy wearing three Fit-Bit-type devices, two beautiful Middle Eastern sisters, an outrageously pompous elderly American (sorry; eavesdropping), and several Imelda Marcos lookalikes, tottering out of the treatment rooms with, somehow, their elaborate hairstyles still intact.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
Definition of pompous
Adjective
  • There was Coppola’s over-the-top defense of his friend with a grandiloquent gesture (Tanen declined to sell).
    — Michael O’Donnell, The Atlantic, 10 Feb. 2026
  • Reform—Within Reason Malthus aimed to puncture Godwin’s grandiloquent progressivism.
    — Roy Scranton, JSTOR Daily, 18 Sep. 2025
Definition of grandiloquent
Adjective
  • His most acute scorn was reserved for my then-colleague, Alan Abelson, the longtime lead columnist and former Barron’s editor known for his florid, literate and persistent bearishness.
    — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Ford, even more than Antonioni, renders characters’ social context both intellectually and dramatically explicit by way of extensive, florid, candid, confrontational dialogue.
    — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of florid
Adjective
  • Staffers are unfailingly warm and helpful, while never seeming stiff or stilted.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 June 2026
  • Tensions between Rian and Patrick flare when Rian drunkenly mentions a brief fling with Shiv, though the film’s clunky edit, which gives little room for the performances to breathe and play out organically within their contexts, makes these frictions feel stilted and juvenile.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 22 May 2026
Definition of stilted
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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belletrist
belletristic
belletrists
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Cite this Entry

“Belletristic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/belletristic. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

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