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periphrasis

[puh-rif-ruh-sis] / pəˈrɪf rə sɪs /
NOUN
circumlocution
Synonyms
STRONG
diffuseness discursiveness euphemism indirectness pleonasm prolixity roundabout tautology verbiage wordiness
WEAK
beating around the bush circumambages gassiness periphrase verbal evasion verbality
Antonyms
STRONG
conciseness
WEAK
directness straightforwardness terseness
NOUN
redundancy
Synonyms
STRONGEST
attrition
STRONG
circumlocution overabundance pleonasm profusion prolixity superabundance supererogation superfluity tautology verbiage verboseness verbosity
WEAK
copiosity macrology
Antonyms
STRONG
conciseness lack
NOUN
verbiage
Synonyms
STRONG
circumlocution expansiveness floridity long-windedness loquacity pleonasm prolixity redundancy tautology verbosity
WEAK
periphrase
Antonyms
WEAK
conciseness
NOUN
wordiness
Synonyms
STRONG
circumlocution diffuseness diffusion fecundity garrulity logorrhea loquaciousness loquacity officialese pleonasm prolixity redundancy tautology verbiage verbosity
WEAK
catalogic macrology verbality verbigeration verbomania
Antonyms
STRONG
conciseness
WEAK
directness straightforwardness terseness

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For so much as this syllable sounded so unpleasantly in their eares, and this voice seemed so ill boding and unluckie, the Romans had learned to allay and dilate the same by a Periphrasis.

From Literary and Philosophical Essays: French, German and Italian by Various

Then is it not by Epitheton or figure of Attribution but by the figures Antonomasia, or Periphrasis.

From The Arte of English Poesie by Puttenham, George

Vocabulary lists containing periphrasis

Reading: Literature - Literary Devices & Figures of Speech - High School

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Rhetoric

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Around and Around: Peri

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