rhetoric

noun

rhet·​o·​ric ˈre-tə-rik 

1

: the art of speaking or writing effectively: such as

a

: the study of principles and rules of composition formulated by critics of ancient times

b

: the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion

2

a

: skill in the effective use of speech

b

: a type or mode of language or speech

also : insincere or grandiloquent language

3

: verbal communication : discourse

Synonyms

• bombast
• fustian
• gas
• grandiloquence
• hot air
• oratory
• verbiage
• wind

Examples of rhetoric in a Sentence

The media almost never discuss what the sweeping dismantling of public services inherent in the rhetoric of the antigovernment movement would mean in practice. —E. J. Dionne, Jr., Commonweal, 20 Nov. 2009

What they are in reality are the romantic words of a man who needs glorious rhetoric to cover up murderous reality. —Pete Hamill, Cosmopolitan, April 1976

No speech could have been more thoroughly honest in its intention: the frigid rhetoric at the end was as sincere as the bark of a dog, or the cawing of an amorous rook. —George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1872

Otherwise he might have been a great general, blowing up all sorts of towns, or he might have been a great politician, dealing in all sorts of parliamentary rhetoric; but as it was, he and the Court of Chancery had fallen upon each other in the pleasantest way, and nobody was much the worse … —Charles Dickens, Bleak House, 1852-53

a college course in rhetoric

the mayor's promise to fight drugs was just rhetoric, since there was no money in the city budget for a drug program

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Recent Examples on the Web

This rhetoric does work for some demographics and does inspire them into action. —David Marchese Photo Illustration By Bráulio Amado, New York Times, 28 Dec. 2023

Employing religious rhetoric on the campaign trail is not a new phenomenon. —Oren Oppenheim, ABC News, 28 Dec. 2023

Even my own friends believed that there was an element of rhetoric in my speech. . . . —Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 26 Dec. 2023

In their rhetoric, Chinese officials also make a point of using language that is implicitly anti-Western and anti-American, rejecting hegemony and the U.S.-led international order—a far cry from India’s more moderate, reformist position. —Happymon Jacob, Foreign Affairs, 25 Dec. 2023

By the time the company launched, Altman’s rhetoric on AI risk seemed to become more modulated. —Nitasha Tiku, Washington Post, 23 Dec. 2023

The organizing effort comes as Israel supporters said Jewish students on campuses across the nation have been subjected to hostile rhetoric against them and have experienced acts of escalating antisemitism. —Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, 21 Dec. 2023

The normalization of this type of violent rhetoric is cause for significant concern. —Jacob Rosen, CBS News, 21 Dec. 2023

But, with American democracy so threatened from within, such rhetoric has often sounded discordant, implying a resolve and unity that the West simply does not possess. —Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Middle English rethorik, from Anglo-French rethorique, from Latin rhetorica, from Greek rhētorikē, literally, art of oratory, from feminine of rhētorikos of an orator, from rhētōr orator, rhetorician, from eirein to say, speak — more at word

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

rhetoric

noun

rhet·​o·​ric ˈret-ə-rik 

1

: the art of speaking or writing effectively

2

: the study or use of the principles and rules of composition

3

a

: skill in the effective use of speech

b

: language that is not honest, sincere, or meaningful

rhetorician

ˌret-ə-ˈrish-ən

noun