What is the author's style in The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket?

The name of the lake is an uncommon word that means sorrowful. Lachrymose is a word that has fallen out of general usage, like many of the other words that are used in the book. This series is truly a vocabulary lesson and features many words that children may not have heard.

These words include dowager, which refers to an older, unmarried woman, Brobdingnagian, which means large; and phantasmagorical, which means unusual or ethereal. Each time a strange word is given, the definition follows.