periphrasis
1
9.9
- noun
- /pəˈrɪf.rə.sɪs/
- Literature
- In her essay, the excessive periphrasis obscured the clarity of her arguments.
Examples
-
The writer's tendency to use periphrasis made his stories unnecessarily long.
-
Circularity is a virtue, periphrasis a principle, hyper-qualification a necessity.
Academic text (2000) -
His speech was full of periphrasis, making it hard to understand his main point.
Synonyms
1
7.3
Using more words than needed when speaking or writing
1
9.2
Using many words to avoid saying something directly
1
9.9
A habit of using too many words that makes people bored
1
4.8
Using more language than needed in writing or speech
1
7.5
Talking or writing with too many words makes people bored
1
9.9
A phrase that uses more words than needed
1
9.5
Speech or writing that uses too many words
1
6.8
Speaking or writing with more words than needed and making the meaning unclear
1
7.4
Using more words than needed so speech or writing is hard to follow
Long, indirect speech that avoids a direct answer
The use of too many words that makes speech or writing long and boring
Antonyms
How Wordy
Surface Forms
Morphology
periphrasis = phrase (opaque) = peri + phrasis
Although built from Greek peri- + phrasis, the components are learned-borrowing elements (not fully productive in modern English), so knowing 'phrase' alone will not let a typical B1 learner infer the specialized meaning 'circumlocution'.
Etymology
Periphrasis comes from Greek parts peri- 'around' and phrasis, the same root as the English word phrase meaning 'speech' or 'expression'. So periphrasis is like 'speaking around' something, using more words than needed or talking in a roundabout way.