1
as in ambiguity
deliberate evasion in speech
rather than answering the question directly, he resorted to circumlocution, which made her suspect that he was hiding something
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in repetition
the use of too many words to express an idea
your papers have to be five pages long, but that's five pages of substance, not circumlocution
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of circumlocution
Their circumlocutions were as entrancing as their ability to find the most precisely ironic words for difficult-to-name realities.
—
Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2025
Here, instead, she’s swayed by a dead Diana softly squeezing her hand and kindly hinting — the dead Diana is an ace at tactful circumlocution — that now is the time to show a mourning nation some emotion.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 16 Nov. 2023
This year, House Republicans unveiled a new Conservative Climate Caucus that, in a fascinating circumlocution, sort of recognizes that fossil fuels are causing the planet to warm.
—Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2022
Powell’s statement yesterday (September 22) is the masterpiece of its type, building upon fifteen months of this playful circumlocution, downshifting into bureaucratic blandness.
—George Calhoun, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2021
But the national crisis in policing and the response to it isn’t a matter of arid elite debate or familiar political circumlocution and compromise anymore.
—David Roth, The New Republic, 11 June 2020
By condensing Balzac’s opus to a few paragraphs, Barthelme was having a laugh not just at his predecessor’s genteel circumlocution—his tendency to describe buildings and manufacturing procedures and family trees in lavish detail—but also at the conventions of novelistic mimesis itself.
—Giles Harvey, The New York Review of Books, 23 Apr. 2020
These circumlocutions are meant to emphasize the fact that Africans traded like chattel were not, in their essence, slaves but human beings.
—Lionel Shriver, Harper's magazine, 25 Nov. 2019
Although incredibly popular, with 60% approval ratings, Ahok was considered by many to be a divisive figure, by virtue both of his minority status and of his bluntness, which ran counter to Javanese traditions of deference and circumlocution.
—The Economist, 12 Apr. 2018
Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2025
Here, instead, she’s swayed by a dead Diana softly squeezing her hand and kindly hinting — the dead Diana is an ace at tactful circumlocution — that now is the time to show a mourning nation some emotion.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 16 Nov. 2023
This year, House Republicans unveiled a new Conservative Climate Caucus that, in a fascinating circumlocution, sort of recognizes that fossil fuels are causing the planet to warm.
—Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2022
Powell’s statement yesterday (September 22) is the masterpiece of its type, building upon fifteen months of this playful circumlocution, downshifting into bureaucratic blandness.
—George Calhoun, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2021
But the national crisis in policing and the response to it isn’t a matter of arid elite debate or familiar political circumlocution and compromise anymore.
—David Roth, The New Republic, 11 June 2020
By condensing Balzac’s opus to a few paragraphs, Barthelme was having a laugh not just at his predecessor’s genteel circumlocution—his tendency to describe buildings and manufacturing procedures and family trees in lavish detail—but also at the conventions of novelistic mimesis itself.
—Giles Harvey, The New York Review of Books, 23 Apr. 2020
These circumlocutions are meant to emphasize the fact that Africans traded like chattel were not, in their essence, slaves but human beings.
—Lionel Shriver, Harper's magazine, 25 Nov. 2019
Although incredibly popular, with 60% approval ratings, Ahok was considered by many to be a divisive figure, by virtue both of his minority status and of his bluntness, which ran counter to Javanese traditions of deference and circumlocution.
—The Economist, 12 Apr. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumlocution
Noun
-
There seemed to be little ambiguity as to the nature of their connection, as Curtis was spotted rubbing the actress' shoulders, and Aniston was later seen with her hand in his hand.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Chamandy said that, because of the ambiguity associated with the tariffs, companies are still hesitating to change suppliers until the dust settles.—
Meghan Hall,
Sourcing Journal,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The repetition of that mythic version has buttressed the belief that the fight for American independence was an event somehow separate from world history.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Recurring gags, like one with Madonna suddenly falling asleep mid-sentence, are surprising and therefore funny the first time they’re rolled out, and then less surprising and therefore less funny with each repetition.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Up front, Knoblauch’s line shuffles have drawn the ire of fans, but veterans Frederic and now Mangiapane have not scored at pace while playing on the McDavid line.—
Allan Mitchell,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
-
Related Stories Her departure follows the studio’s recent merger with Skydance, which has resulted in several significant executive shuffles.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Tuesday's result capped a tumultuous final month that saw national Republican condemnation, Democratic hesitation and equivocation, and a barrage of attack ads.—
Jesus Mesa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
-
And no — because strictly speaking there is no Electric Nebraska per se, notwithstanding Springsteen’s equivocations on the point (as reported in this magazine) and the fact that one disc in this five-disc set is titled Electric Nebraska.—
Will Hermes,
Rolling Stone,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Flatulent describes inflated, pretentious writing; garrulity describes excessive talkativeness.—
Gary Gilson,
Star Tribune,
31 Oct. 2020
Noun
-
This working prompt injection came only after much trial and error, explaining the verbosity and the detail in it.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
18 Sep. 2025
-
The truth is, there is rarely a Merritt Wever or an Adrien Brody in awards speeches—extreme cases of brevity or verbosity that stun both those in the room and at home.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Using fractional diffusion theory, the research deepens understanding of transient charging behaviors in complex materials, which is key to designing high-performance components used for advanced engineering electrochemical systems in general.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
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Using a combination of nanotechnological and analogue diffusion devices, these scents permeate the surrounding garden.—
Sofia Celeste,
Footwear News,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Just as the limitless space of web text tempts writers to indulge their logorrhea, the blinking, ever-transmuting, cartoonish interface of web browsers prevents would-be readers from paying attention to anything for longer than about 7 seconds.—
Barton Swaim,
WSJ,
19 Sep. 2022
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Nor has Musk kept his Twitter logorrhea in check in other respects.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Circumlocution.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumlocution. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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