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It seems more like a running gag, than a character trait or infodump.
Running gags have comedic "rules" and structure, so it becomes less about texture and more about timing. That doesn't mean you are going for a big laugh, but you are establishing a pattern for the reader and then deciding when to invoke it, and later when to break it.
The gag is not so much about author to reader (although obviously that is a huge part of it), instead it is about getting other characters in on the gag. Once you've established the pattern that she is misinterpreting big words, other character's personalities come into play. Someone who is mentoring her will try to help her by explaining, but other characters will get annoyed or be amused by this. They will tell her wrong definitions, or tell each other very obvious definitions (more to rib the mentor, than her). This can lead to moments when the gag turns dark or mean, unintentionally. Extra opportunity for small conflicts within the group that arise from natural (habitual) character traits.
Breaking the pattern isn't just about making her suddenly smarter, it's also about other characters chiming in unhelpfully, and mimicking the moment to others. It's also about these other characters expecting the pattern too, and when there is suddenly a long passage of big words and it appears she understood it all, these characters who have become to expect it are now the butt of the joke because they have played into the pattern and their expectations are subverted. This uses the gag as more than just comedy, as it helps to evolve the bonds between the group, when minor antagonism turns into respect, or the moment she turns it around and has to explain something only a 14yo orphan girl would understand.
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