"ten-cent word" meaning in English

See ten-cent word in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: ten-cent words [plural]
Etymology: Sense 1 is part of the broader family of expressions that includes ten-dollar word and five-dollar word, which are straightforwardly derived by associating monetary value with sophistication. Sense 1 and the other synonym twenty-five cent word may have been derived in the same way and would be holdovers of times when cents had more purchasing power and could be considered expensive. An alternative story circulates that claims that sense 1 comes from days past when copywriters were paid by the letter. Similar stories are often employed to explain the silent letters of French, Dutch, and English orthography, as well as the length of the works of writers like Charles Dickens and Alexandre Dumas. The claimed relationship between these phenomena is difficult to find primary sources for and is outright invalid in at least the cases of Dickens and French, lending the story an apocryphal air on the whole and leaving its applicability to sense 1 uncertain. It remains possible that the references to cents in sense 1 and in twenty-five cent word carry some influence from realistic costs that were formerly attached to writing, but the claim's overall track record nonetheless casts doubt. Sense 2 was derived as an antonym of the more-expensive terms in the above family. Etymology templates: {{senseno|en|expensive|uc=1}} Sense 1, {{senseno|en|expensive|uc=1}} Sense 1, {{senseno|en|expensive}} sense 1, {{senseno|en|expensive}} sense 1, {{senseno|en|expensive}} sense 1, {{senseno|en|inexpensive|uc=1}} Sense 2, {{senseno|en|expensive}} sense 1 Head templates: {{en-noun}} ten-cent word (plural ten-cent words)
  1. (idiomatic) A long word used in place of a short one with the intent to appear sophisticated. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: five-dollar word, ten-dollar word, twenty-five cent word
    Sense id: en-ten-cent_word-en-noun-QMSlvswJ Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 47 53 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 47 53 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 48 52
  2. (idiomatic) A short and common word used in place of a longer and more uncommon one. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-ten-cent_word-en-noun-8-OvKFFO Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 47 53 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 47 53 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 48 52

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "expensive",
        "uc": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Sense 1",
      "name": "senseno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "expensive",
        "uc": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Sense 1",
      "name": "senseno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "expensive"
      },
      "expansion": "sense 1",
      "name": "senseno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "expensive"
      },
      "expansion": "sense 1",
      "name": "senseno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "expensive"
      },
      "expansion": "sense 1",
      "name": "senseno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "inexpensive",
        "uc": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Sense 2",
      "name": "senseno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "expensive"
      },
      "expansion": "sense 1",
      "name": "senseno"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Sense 1 is part of the broader family of expressions that includes ten-dollar word and five-dollar word, which are straightforwardly derived by associating monetary value with sophistication. Sense 1 and the other synonym twenty-five cent word may have been derived in the same way and would be holdovers of times when cents had more purchasing power and could be considered expensive.\nAn alternative story circulates that claims that sense 1 comes from days past when copywriters were paid by the letter. Similar stories are often employed to explain the silent letters of French, Dutch, and English orthography, as well as the length of the works of writers like Charles Dickens and Alexandre Dumas. The claimed relationship between these phenomena is difficult to find primary sources for and is outright invalid in at least the cases of Dickens and French, lending the story an apocryphal air on the whole and leaving its applicability to sense 1 uncertain. It remains possible that the references to cents in sense 1 and in twenty-five cent word carry some influence from realistic costs that were formerly attached to writing, but the claim's overall track record nonetheless casts doubt.\nSense 2 was derived as an antonym of the more-expensive terms in the above family.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ten-cent words",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "ten-cent word (plural ten-cent words)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "47 53",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "47 53",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "48 52",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A long word used in place of a short one with the intent to appear sophisticated."
      ],
      "id": "en-ten-cent_word-en-noun-QMSlvswJ",
      "links": [
        [
          "sophisticated",
          "sophisticated"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A long word used in place of a short one with the intent to appear sophisticated."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "five-dollar word"
        },
        {
          "word": "ten-dollar word"
        },
        {
          "word": "twenty-five cent word"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "five-dollar word"
        },
        {
          "word": "ten-dollar word"
        },
        {
          "word": "twenty-five cent word"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "47 53",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "47 53",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "48 52",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              33,
              46
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2013, Boris Fishman, The Creative Writer, Level Three: Building Your Craft, Peace Hill Press, →ISBN:",
          "text": "One important note: Exchanging a ten-cent word (“chew”) for a ten-dollar synonym (“masticate”) is NOT the point here. Overly fancy words are just that—overly fancy.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A short and common word used in place of a longer and more uncommon one."
      ],
      "id": "en-ten-cent_word-en-noun-8-OvKFFO",
      "links": [
        [
          "short",
          "short"
        ],
        [
          "common",
          "common"
        ],
        [
          "word",
          "word"
        ],
        [
          "in place of",
          "in place of"
        ],
        [
          "uncommon",
          "uncommon"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A short and common word used in place of a longer and more uncommon one."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
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    "Charles Dickens",
    "Dutch orthography",
    "English orthography",
    "French orthography",
    "silent letters"
  ],
  "word": "ten-cent word"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English contranyms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "expensive",
        "uc": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Sense 1",
      "name": "senseno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "expensive",
        "uc": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Sense 1",
      "name": "senseno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "expensive"
      },
      "expansion": "sense 1",
      "name": "senseno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "expensive"
      },
      "expansion": "sense 1",
      "name": "senseno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "expensive"
      },
      "expansion": "sense 1",
      "name": "senseno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "inexpensive",
        "uc": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Sense 2",
      "name": "senseno"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "expensive"
      },
      "expansion": "sense 1",
      "name": "senseno"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Sense 1 is part of the broader family of expressions that includes ten-dollar word and five-dollar word, which are straightforwardly derived by associating monetary value with sophistication. Sense 1 and the other synonym twenty-five cent word may have been derived in the same way and would be holdovers of times when cents had more purchasing power and could be considered expensive.\nAn alternative story circulates that claims that sense 1 comes from days past when copywriters were paid by the letter. Similar stories are often employed to explain the silent letters of French, Dutch, and English orthography, as well as the length of the works of writers like Charles Dickens and Alexandre Dumas. The claimed relationship between these phenomena is difficult to find primary sources for and is outright invalid in at least the cases of Dickens and French, lending the story an apocryphal air on the whole and leaving its applicability to sense 1 uncertain. It remains possible that the references to cents in sense 1 and in twenty-five cent word carry some influence from realistic costs that were formerly attached to writing, but the claim's overall track record nonetheless casts doubt.\nSense 2 was derived as an antonym of the more-expensive terms in the above family.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ten-cent words",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "ten-cent word (plural ten-cent words)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A long word used in place of a short one with the intent to appear sophisticated."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sophisticated",
          "sophisticated"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A long word used in place of a short one with the intent to appear sophisticated."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "five-dollar word"
        },
        {
          "word": "ten-dollar word"
        },
        {
          "word": "twenty-five cent word"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "five-dollar word"
        },
        {
          "word": "ten-dollar word"
        },
        {
          "word": "twenty-five cent word"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              33,
              46
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2013, Boris Fishman, The Creative Writer, Level Three: Building Your Craft, Peace Hill Press, →ISBN:",
          "text": "One important note: Exchanging a ten-cent word (“chew”) for a ten-dollar synonym (“masticate”) is NOT the point here. Overly fancy words are just that—overly fancy.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A short and common word used in place of a longer and more uncommon one."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "short",
          "short"
        ],
        [
          "common",
          "common"
        ],
        [
          "word",
          "word"
        ],
        [
          "in place of",
          "in place of"
        ],
        [
          "uncommon",
          "uncommon"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A short and common word used in place of a longer and more uncommon one."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Alexandre Dumas",
    "Charles Dickens",
    "Dutch orthography",
    "English orthography",
    "French orthography",
    "silent letters"
  ],
  "word": "ten-cent word"
}

Download raw JSONL data for ten-cent word meaning in English (3.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-16 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (d6fca27 and 65e1673). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.