X’s language is so rich and . . .? [closed]

I’m looking for a word to describe the language of a writer which has the characteristic of being rich and at the same time says that the words that this writer uses have many layers of meanings.

The word polysemous (having multiple meanings) and the word multivalent (defined as having many values, meanings, or appeals) seem to fit the description. Yet both words sound quite technical to me. I’ve never encountered the word polysemous outside the field of linguistics and multivalent — according to the dictionary — is used mostly in chemistry.

So which word is better?

• The writer’s language is so rich and polysemous.

• The writer’s language is so rich and multivalent.

Also, are there other, better synonyms?

"Which word is better?

The writer’s language is so rich and polysemous.

The writer’s language is so rich and multivalent."

...Remember that you can always change your sentence structure too. I like most of the suggestions given above. It seems that you're getting trapped into looking for a single perfect word, which is a common mistake; and in that search, you're forcing yourself to come up with GRE-words like "polysemous."

Don't obsess about a single word in a sentence; if the sentence isn't going well, delete it. "[Blank's] language is rich, multilayered; following his sentences is like travelling in a glass elevator moving between different floors of a building -- you look in through the windows; every few words lends a different view." Or that's terrible; but anything. You can write anything you what about it. Obsessing over a single world is a mistake. Step back, and change the larger thing that isn't working.

You don’t want either of those words, for a whole host of reasons. They clash with the plain-language tone you had had going up till them. A lot of people wouldn’t know what they meant, or at least would have to pause and puzzle them out. And polysemous can carry a shifty overtone of ambiguity.

Just stick to plain English and write something like:

• The writer’s language is rich and deep.
• The writer’s language is rich and layered with meaning.

I do not understand this misplaced search for a “single” word.

You might not want to use so as a gushy alternative to very. It works best when you’re making a “so . . . as” comparison or starting a “so . . . that” clause.

• The writer’s language is not so rich as in Regency romance, but it still draws you into her world.
• The writer’s language is not so rich that it cannot be read without a dictionary in hand, but is still rich enough to make you want to live in her story.

The word nuanced is often used in such a context; eg “The writer’s language is so rich and nuanced.”

According to wiktionary, nuanced means

Having nuances; possessed of multiple layers of detail, pattern, or meaning [eg] The setting sunlight played through the gently waving branches, creating subtly nuanced transitions of color and tone as the shadows swept back and forth in the rosy glow.