Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SOLILOQUIZE
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pronounce
SOLILOQUIZE:
Say it "suh LILL uh kwize."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
And the players who stand around and talk to themselves are soliloquizers.
And when the players run around in frenzied confusion, as if following Shakespearean stage directions right before a battle, we call that frenzied motion al____s and _________s. Can you recall that stagey, dramatic term?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
The word "soliloquy" has Latin roots that mean "speaking alone."
A soliloquy is a speech or a talk that you say alone, out loud, to yourself. Soliloquies are often spoken by characters in plays: they think out loud, to themselves, often for a long time, so that they can share their private thoughts with the audience, but not the other characters.
The verb is "soliloquize." To soliloquize is to talk to yourself out loud, often for a long time, as if you're a character on a stage.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Verb, usually the intransitive kind: "He's soliloquizing again;" "She soliloquized about it."
Sometimes the transitive kind: "'Well, let me consider this,' he soliloquized."
Other forms:
Soliloquy, soliloquies;
soliloquized, soliloquizing.
For a noun for people who soliloquize, you can pick "soliloquizer(s)" or "soliloquist(s)."
There's also a rare, hilarious adjective, "soliloquacious," for people who often soliloquize. And the noun is equally silly: "soliloquacity."
If you need a more serious-sounding adjective, you can pick "soliloquent."
how to use it:
When it seems to you like someone is talking aloud to no one, at great length, as if on a stage, say that he or she is soliloquizing.
It's a funny, awkward, overblown kind of word that pokes a little more fun than synonyms like "monologuing," "thinking aloud," and "talking to yourself."
You might say that someone is soliloquizing on or about a topic, or for a certain stretch of time.
And, I always hate this, but you can use "soliloquize" to tag dialogue: "Oh, mercy me! I keep forgetting I'm in the colonies," Tobias soliloquized.
examples:
"'There are two sides to every story,' Feeney's mysterious villain soliloquizes."
— Megan Goldin, New York Times, 24 July 2020
"It is with great difficulty that he rouses himself from his soliloquizing mood."
— Joost van den Vondel, Vondel's Lucifer, 1898
has this page helped you understand "soliloquize"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "soliloquize" without saying "to monologue" or "to converse with yourself."
try it out:
Think of the most talkative person you know. It might be someone famous, or someone you know personally.
Does this person ever seem to soliloquize instead of converse? And, whether your answer is "yes" or "no," how can you tell?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game for October is "Silly Smashings!"
In each issue this month, I'll give you the definition of a word I've concocted by smashing together two words we've studied before.
See if you can come up with the same silly smashing that I did.
For example, I'll say, "This noun means 'an extremely outdated, old-fashioned, ill-considered assumption that there are only two ways of dealing with a certain problem.'" And you'll say, "That's a troglodichotomy." (Which is a silly smashing of troglodyte and dichotomy.)
I'll list the answer at the bottom of each issue. Maybe your answer will match mine. Or maybe yours will be even better; if so, be sure to share it with me!
Try this one today:
This five-syllable adjective describes things that have been so thoroughly cleansed of any profanity that they've become hilariously meaningless. Like when Samuel L. Jackson exclaims in a TV dubbing, "I have had it with these monkey-fighting snakes on this Monday-to-Friday plane!"
review this word:
A. AVOIDING.
B. PARTYING.
C. DISCUSSING.
2. If you're a soliloquizer, you need to _____ your own thoughts to make sense of them.
A. sift
B. hear
C. write
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
The word "soliloquy" has Latin roots that mean "speaking alone."
Part of speech:
When it seems to you like someone is talking aloud to no one, at great length, as if on a stage, say that he or she is soliloquizing.
"'There are two sides to every story,' Feeney's mysterious villain soliloquizes."
Explain the meaning of "soliloquize" without saying "to monologue" or "to converse with yourself."
Think of the most talkative person you know. It might be someone famous, or someone you know personally.
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
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