political rhetoric
8
7.1
- noun
- /pəˈlɪtɪkəl ˈrɛtərɪk/
- Literature
:
retórica política
- The candidate's political rhetoric aimed to inspire hope and change among young voters.
- much political rhetoric
Examples
-
What defines this campaign, in part, is a yawning gap between the political rhetoric and the country's budget problems.
Blog text (1) -
President Obama also delivered that message, saying it's partly the political rhetoric that led to this.
Blog text (21) -
More and more people accept the political rhetoric as gospel because it's an easy answer.
Blog text (22) -
If America 2000 is primarily political rhetoric, it has two possible purposes.
Academic text (1992) -
Yet the political rhetoric and the regulatory structures of environmental protection are also being put in place.
Academic text (1995) -
When it is used as part of political rhetoric, it silences conversation.
Academic text (2003) -
However, both threats reflect political rhetoric more than political reality, although in politics, sometimes rhetoric is reality.
Academic text (2008) -
I think you're all putting far too much importance on current national political rhetoric.
Blog text (1) -
The more outrageous and inflammatory the political rhetoric, the less it means.
Blog text (31) -
Another MIT alumnus, Nadeem Mazen '06, is also working to clarify the political rhetoric.
Blog text (28)
Synonyms
265
7.0
Words that sound impressive but have little real meaning
13
9.5
To win support by using strong emotion and fear in speeches
3
8.7
Strong public writing and speech that attacks one view and supports another
3
9.7
Language made unclear on purpose to hide the truth, often used by governments
Language used to persuade people with strong words and images
A practice of spreading biased information to make people accept certain ideas
Antonyms
How Persuasive
291
6.2
- Literature
145
7.5
- Formal
10
7.3
- Literature
8
7.1
∞
2.5
- Literature
212
3.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'political' (relating to politics) with 'rhetoric' (persuasive oratory/language); together they straightforwardly denote persuasive language used in a political context. This adjective+noun composition is semantically transparent and common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrase political rhetoric comes from the old idea of rhetoric as the skill of speaking to influence people. Imagine a politician using smooth words like tools to shape people's opinions, so it means language used 'to persuade' or 'influence' in politics.