Circumlocution \Cir`cum*lo*cu"tion\, n. [L. circumlocutio, fr.
circumloqui, -locutus, to make use of circumlocution; circum
+ loqui to speak. See Loquacious.]
The use of many words to express an idea that might be
expressed by few; indirect or roundabout language; a
periphrase.
[1913 Webster]
the plain Billingsgate way of calling names . . . would
save abundance of time lost by circumlocution. --Swift.
[1913 Webster]
Circumlocution office, a term of ridicule for a
governmental office where business is delayed by passing
through the hands of different officials.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
circumlocution
n 1: a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things
[syn: periphrasis, ambage]
2: an indirect way of expressing something [syn: indirect
expression]
WordNet (r) 2.0
68 Moby Thesaurus words for "circumlocution":
ambages, anfractuosity, circling, circuition, circuitousness,
circuitry, circularity, circulation, circumambages, circumambience,
circumambiency, circumambulation, circumbendibus, circumflexion,
circummigration, circumnavigation, circumvolution, convolution,
crinkle, crinkling, deviance, deviancy, deviation, deviousness,
digression, excursion, excursus, flexuosity, flexuousness, gyre,
gyring, indirection, intorsion, involution, meander, meandering,
obliqueness, orbit, orbiting, periphrase, periphrasis, pleonasm,
redundancy, rivulation, roundabout, roundaboutness, rounding,
sinuation, sinuosity, sinuousness, slinkiness, snakiness, spiral,
spiraling, tautology, torsion, tortility, tortuosity, tortuousness,
turn, turning, twisting, undulation, verbality, wave, waving,
wheeling, winding
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
ambage, indirect expression, periphrasis
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