өйдөөҕүмсүй

Yakut

Etymology

From өйдөөх (öydööq) + a suffix implying "acting" or "pretending to be" (compare, for example, оҕомсуй "to act childish or naive"). Thus, "to pretend to be smart".

Verb

өйдөөҕүмсүй • (öydööğümsüy)

1. (intransitive) to feign cleverness or intelligence

Usage notes

This and the below term are legitimate words, though we might quip that, like English sesquipedalian, such long words could be used by someone feigning high intelligence.

"... it is important to distinguish between scholars and intellectuals. When asked to define the latter, Bertrand Russell once replied, 'I have never called myself an intellectual, and nobody has ever dared to call me one in my presence. ... I think an intellectual may be defined as a person who pretends to have more intellect than he has, and I hope that definition does not fit me.' "

(Charles R. Johnson, "The Role of the Black Intellectual in the Twenty-first Century", in his 2003 essay collection Turning the Wheel, p. 86)

Derived terms

• өйдөөҕүмсүйээччи (öydööğümsüyeecci, (personal) noun)