noun
literary style; flavor of literary language
Refers to a style or tone characteristic of written, often classical or formal, Japanese. Used when describing text that sounds old-fashioned or bookish.
彼の文章は文語調で、少し堅苦しい感じがする。
His writing has a literary style and feels a bit stiff.
この小説は文語調の表現が多く、
This novel has many literary-style expressions and is hard to read.
文語体 refers specifically to the classical literary grammar and form, whereas 文語調 is more about the flavor or tone of literary language.
Compound of 文語 (literary language) and 調 (tone, style).