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ELOQUENT
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I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively
Example:
silver speech
Synonyms:
eloquent; facile; fluent; silver; silver-tongued; smooth-spoken
Classified under:
Similar:
articulate (expressing yourself easily or characterized by clear expressive language)
Derivation:
elocute (declaim in an elocutionary manner)
eloquence (powerful and effective language)
Context examples:
Alleyne might talk to her of the stories of old gods and heroes, of gallant deeds and lofty aims, or he might hold forth upon moon and stars, and let his fancy wander over the hidden secrets of the universe, and he would have a rapt listener with flushed cheeks and eloquent eyes, who could repeat after him the very words which had fallen from his lips.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
My cousins, full of exhilaration, were so eloquent in narrative and comment, that their fluency covered St. John's taciturnity: he was sincerely glad to see his sisters; but in their glow of fervour and flow of joy he could not sympathise.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Two or three warriors spoke, and finally our young friend made a spirited harangue with such eloquent features and gestures that we could understand it all as clearly as if we had known his language.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I answered, “it was easy to be eloquent on so copious and delightful a subject, especially to me, who had been often apt to amuse myself with visions of what I should do, if I were a king, a general, or a great lord: and upon this very case, I had frequently run over the whole system how I should employ myself, and pass the time, if I were sure to live for ever.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
All the centuries of woman since sex began were eloquent in her eyes.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
He spoke well; but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed; and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
I came down again to my dinner; and even the slow comfort of the meal, and the orderly silence of the place—which was bare of guests, the Long Vacation not yet being over—were eloquent on the audacity of Traddles, and his small hopes of a livelihood for twenty years to come.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
This suited the young lady better than twilight confidences, tender pressures of the hand, and eloquent glances of the eye, for with Jo, brain developed earlier than heart, and she preferred imaginary heroes to real ones, because when tired of them, the former could be shut up in the tin kitchen till called for, and the latter were less manageable.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
When the evening was over, Anne could not but be amused at the idea of her coming to Lyme to preach patience and resignation to a young man whom she had never seen before; nor could she help fearing, on more serious reflection, that, like many other great moralists and preachers, she had been eloquent on a point in which her own conduct would ill bear examination.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
To women who please me only by their faces, I am the very devil when I find out they have neither souls nor hearts—when they open to me a perspective of flatness, triviality, and perhaps imbecility, coarseness, and ill-temper: but to the clear eye and eloquent tongue, to the soul made of fire, and the character that bends but does not break—at once supple and stable, tractable and consistent—I am ever tender and true.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
