noun

1. the artificial, affected, high-flown style of speaking or writing used by John Lyly and his imitators, characterized by alliteration, balanced sentences, far-fetched figures of speech, etc.
2. any artificial, high-flown style of speech or writing
3. an instance of this

Etymology: < Euphues, fictitious character in two prose romances by John Lyly < Gr euphyēs, shapely, graceful < eu- (see eu-) + phyē, growth < phyein, to grow (see bondage) + -ism