prosopopeya

Spanish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek προσωποποιία (prosōpopoiía, “dramatization, the putting of speeches into the mouths of characters”).

Noun

prosopopeya f (plural prosopopeyas)

1. personification
   • 1999 October 12, “La costosa dictablanda de Pujol”, in El País‎^[1]:

     Pese a sus apariencias de simpático tendero, Pujol es hombre amante de la pompa, la prosopopeya y los grandes coups de théatre: lo demuestra subiendo al Aneto y bajando iluminado como Moisés del Sinaí, con el mensaje electoral a punto.

     Despite his appearances as a friendly shopkeeper, Pujol is a man who loves pomp, prosopopoeia and grand coups de théatre: he demonstrates it by going up to Aneto and descending enlightened like Moses from Sinai, with his electoral message ready at hand.

2. affected solemnity
   • 1877, Benito Pérez Galdós, Gloria:

     -Pues tiene poco de envidiable -dijo Rafael con cierto tonillo de despreocupación que contrastaba con su habitual prosopopeya

     "Well, it has little to envy," Rafael said with a certain air of nonchalance that contrasted with his usual seriousness.

Further reading

• “prosopopeya”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28