1. becoming swollen or enlarged
Usage: medical; formal
2. pompous or inflated in style
Usage: literary; formal

Examples

• The patient’s tumescent lymph nodes indicated an infection.
• The doctor observed tumescent tissue around the wound.
• His tumescent prose made the simple story unnecessarily complex.
• The politician’s tumescent rhetoric failed to impress the audience.
• The tumescent clouds suggested an approaching storm.
• Her tumescent writing style obscured the main point.