Feedback
Circumlocution
Your browser does not support the audio element.
Meaning
Noun
●
In Talking:
A
roundabout
or
indirect
way of
speaking
; thus:
Unnecessary use of
extra
words
to
express
an
idea
, such as a
pleonastic
phrase
(sometimes
driven
by an
attempt
at
emphatic
clarity
) or a
wordy
substitution
(the latter
driven
by
euphemistic
intent
,
pedagogic
intent
, or sometimes
loquaciousness
alone).
Necessary use of a
phrase
to
circumvent
either a
vocabulary
fault
(of
speaker
or
listener
) or a
lexical gap
, either
monolingually
or in translation.
●
In Talking:
An
instance
of such
usage
; a
roundabout
expression
, whether an
inadvisable
one or a
necessary
one.
Sourced from
Wiktionary
Origin
circumlocution
English
circumlocutio
Latin
Sourced from
Etym
Related
Verbiage
Prevarication
Sophistry
Doublespeak
Obfuscation
Casuistry
Phraseology
Pedantry
Wordplay
Sophism
Equivocation
Vagueness
Auxiliary Verbs
Prepositional Phrases
Word Play
Word Salad
Comma Splices
Passive Voice
More
Rhymes
Aleutian
Solution
Ablution
Venusian
Evolution
Absolution
Belarusian
Devolution
Involution
Revolution
Resolution
Convolution
Dissolution
Contribution
Circumlocution
Join 10 million students and professionals writing 70% faster at QuillBot.com
Start writing better