fed·er·al·ese \|fed(ə)rə|lēz, -ēs\noun (-s) Usage: often capitalized slang: prose that is marked by a needlessly involved and awkwardly pretentious sentence structure and use of a jargon of polysyllabic words and that is sometimes said to characterize the documents of federal bureaus in the U.S. < an enigma wrapped in federalese and tied with red tape — Time >