rhetorical

adjective

ri-ˈtȯr-i-kəl How to pronounce rhetorical (audio)
variants also rhetoric
Definition of rhetoricalnext
1
as in oratorical
marked by the use of impressive-sounding but mostly meaningless words and phrases you can skip over the rhetorical passages and still get the gist of the essay

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ornate
full of fine words and fancy expressions the new governor delivered a long rhetorical speech about our state's bright future but laid out no specific programs for ensuring it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in linguistic
of or relating to words or language the next war that those two nations fight won't be rhetorical—it will be with bombs and bullets

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rhetorical Hiding in plain sight Pennsylvania, like many northern states, responded to the Declaration of Independence’s rhetorical commitment to liberty by enacting a gradual emancipation law. — Carolyn Zola, The Conversation, 11 June 2026 The reason this is no longer a rhetorical fight is that the official numbers exist. — Zennon Kapron, Forbes.com, 10 June 2026 The invocation of self-evident truths and inherent rights is a warrant for the destruction of existing order, a rhetorical erasure not only of the divine right of kings but also, more generally, of the prerogatives of power. — New York Times, 9 June 2026 The song had grown out of a bloody domestic conflict, but later in the century its rhetorical force appealed to those with foreign ambitions. — Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 8 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for rhetorical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rhetorical
  1. oratorical
  2. ornate
  3. linguistic
  4. pontifical
  5. purple
  6. verbal
  7. inflated
  8. grandiloquent
Adjective
  • That wasn’t Newsom’s only oratorical slip-up, although the second one says more about the larger Democratic Party than anything else.
    — Douglas Schoen, Oc Register, 26 Feb. 2026
  • With his height and his oratorical flourishes, Jackson was a charismatic figure who led protests in Greensboro.
    — Johanna Neuman, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2026
Definition of oratorical
Adjective
  • The ornate dress hit just above the ankle, revealing a pair of metallic gold pumps with a lustrous finish.
    — Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 5 July 2026
  • Opened in 1901, the ornate behemoth in Center City, built in the style of the Second Empire, remains a showstopper today.
    — Regan Stephens, New York Times, 2 July 2026
Definition of ornate
Adjective
  • Learning the Indonesian language, Bahasa Indonesia, is also part of the French team’s program, as linguistic proximity has already proven effective with other international partners.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 4 July 2026
  • That his language was English and not American was the cause of ample anxiety for a linguistic nationalist like Webster, no less than my own as evidenced in my rejoinders to a bartender at the Boot Pub more than two centuries later.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 July 2026
Definition of linguistic
Adjective
  • Leo opened his visit to Pompeii by meeting with sick and disabled people who are cared for by a charity center affiliated with the sanctuary, which Leo’s namesake, Pope Leo XIII, declared a pontifical basilica in 1901.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 May 2026
  • That public spat has overshadowed his pontifical tour of four African countries, which ended Thursday with a Mass for thousands of people in Malabo, the former capital of Equatorial Guinea.
    — Claudio Lavanga, NBC news, 23 Apr. 2026
Definition of pontifical
Adjective
  • In the second year, a hollow stalk with purple spots grows 5 to 10 feet tall.
    — Beth Botts, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
  • Then there was Felix Olivero, wearing a purple Argentina jersey and matching hat, leaning on his crutches under the hot sun on the scorching blacktop of a Hard Rock parking lot.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 4 July 2026
Definition of purple
Adjective
  • An additional 1,600, including those in humanities, social sciences and arts, later joined to argue that verbal reasoning and writing skills were lacking too.
    — Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
  • The agency claims Salgado Araujo refused to follow several verbal commands and rammed into one of its law enforcement vehicles.
    — Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 8 July 2026
Definition of verbal
Adjective
  • The collaboration also includes a limited run of Topps trading cards that will sport his Companion character — a Mickey Mouse-style figure with Xs for eyes and inflated skull-and-crossbones features.
    — Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 8 July 2026
  • In the Siberian city of Irkutsk, police fined four people on Monday, accusing them of reselling gas on the black market at inflated prices, according to the region’s Interior Ministry.
    — Clare Sebastian, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
Definition of inflated
Adjective
  • There was Coppola’s over-the-top defense of his friend with a grandiloquent gesture (Tanen declined to sell).
    — Michael O’Donnell, The Atlantic, 10 Feb. 2026
  • Reform—Within Reason Malthus aimed to puncture Godwin’s grandiloquent progressivism.
    — Roy Scranton, JSTOR Daily, 18 Sep. 2025
Definition of grandiloquent

Browse Nearby Words

rhetoric
rhetorical
rhetorician
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Rhetorical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rhetorical. Accessed 12 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on rhetorical

Nglish: Translation of rhetorical for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fulcrum

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All