Euphues was the hero of a prose romance (published 1579-80) by John Lyly; his adventures are recounted in a mannered style full of puns, alliteration, and antithetical 'points'. Under the name of Euphuism this courtly style enjoyed a brief vogue.
An ornate Elizabethan style of writing marked by the excessive use of alliteration, antithesis and mythological similes. The term derives from the elaborate and affected style of John Lyly's 16th century romance, Euphues.(See also Baroque, Conceit, Gongorism, Marinism, Melic Verse)
A highly ornate style of writing popularized by John Lyly's Euphues, characterized by balanced sentence construction, rhetorical tropes, and multiplied similes and allusions.
Euphuism is a mannered style of English prose, taking its name from works by John Lyly. It was a preciously ornate and sophisticated prose style that was fashionable in the 1580s, but never subsequently. The term was not invented by Lyly.