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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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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Recent Examples of circumlocution
But in terms of its actual content, the statement was pretty thin gruel, bristling with public relations-style circumlocution and vagueness.
—
Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2026
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
Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2026
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
-
But probabilities are less sexy than proclamations, ambiguities less attractive than assurances—or so the rising number of storm-hyping accounts on social media seem to suggest.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Detectives eventually identify one man as a likely suspect, though he is ultimately not charged, resulting in ambiguity that continues to this day.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
What matters is repetition, tone and what is left unsaid.—
Cheryl Robinson,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Habits are built through repetition under imperfect conditions, not through short bursts of maximal effort.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The shuffle includes killing off Tesla’s two oldest vehicles, the Model S sedan and Model X SUV, to make room for production of its Optimus humanoid robots.—
Andrea Guzmán,
Austin American Statesman,
29 Jan. 2026
-
The underlying notion that you can easily get lost in the shuffle if your devotees aren’t consistently seeing and hearing from you animates a modern pop landscape that’s overflowing with appeals for sustained attention.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
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And that equivocation should lay bare Strider’s personal opinion about the latest high-profile instance of ICE enforcement.—
Peter Chawaga,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Silence or equivocation in moments like this is itself consequential.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
8 Jan. 2026
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
-
Chavarria has also decided to launch a diffusion line called Big Willy as of this show.—
José Criales-Unzueta,
Vanity Fair,
23 Jan. 2026
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Overcoming these issues requires additional layers between copper and silicon, such as nickel, titanium, or zinc oxide, to block diffusion and enable proper electrical contact.—
Ni Tao,
Interesting Engineering,
19 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
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 1 Feb. 2026.
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