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Definition of Circumlocution
1. Noun. A style that involves indirect ways of expressing things.
Generic synonyms: Verboseness, Verbosity
Derivative terms: Ambagious, Circumlocutious, Periphrastic
2. Noun. An indirect way of expressing something.
Generic synonyms: Equivocation, Evasion
Derivative terms: Circumlocutious
Definition of Circumlocution
1. n. The use of many words to express an idea that might be expressed by few; indirect or roundabout language; a periphrase.
Definition of Circumlocution
1. Noun. A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; the use of more words than necessary to express an idea. ¹
2. Noun. A roundabout expression. See also euphemism ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Circumlocution
1. [n -S]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Circumlocution
Literary usage of Circumlocution
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Composition for College Students by Joseph Morris Thomas, Frederick Alexander Manchester, Frank William Scott (1922)
"No public business of any kind could possibly be done at any time, without the
acquiescence of the circumlocution Office. Its finger was in the largest ..."
2. Heroes and Heroines of Fiction: Modern Prose and Poetry; Famous Characters by William Shepard Walsh (1914)
"It was equally impossible to do the plainest right and to undo the plainest wrong,
without the express authority of the circumlocution Office. ..."
3. Heroes and Heroines of Fiction: Modern Prose and Poetry by William Shepard Walsh (1914)
"circumlocution Office, a term invented by Dickens in Little Dorrit (1855) to
satirize the red tape and consequent waste of time and money in British public ..."
4. The Life of Charles Dickens by John Forster (1874)
"The circumlocution heroes led to the Society scenes, the Hampton-court ...
Society, the circumlocution Office, and Mr. Gowan, are of course three parts of ..."
5. Progressive Exercises in English Composition by Richard Green Parker (1875)
"Same in circumlocution. Mankind. The human race. The sun shines. ... When a
circumlocution is used to avoid the harshness or the impropriety of plain ..."
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