as in repetition
the use of too many words to express an idea
congressional hearings into the Watergate scandal were marked by an orgy of periphrasis, the expression "at this point in time" being a memorable example
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for periphrasis
Noun
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People who completed the 10 repetitions for each exercise easily for two consecutive sessions moved up to a harder version of the exercise.—
Kristen Fischer,
Health,
17 Apr. 2025 -
He was inspired by the terse, concrete lines of Gertrude Stein and the repetition printmaking of Andy Warhol.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
15 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Whether Borrelia amplification by pheasants poses a risk to gamekeepers and land managers, or even to the general public through broader ecological diffusion, is still unknown.—
John Drake,
Forbes.com,
22 Apr. 2025
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Policymakers in Washington should also design AI regulation to enable responsible technology diffusion.—
Michael C. Horowitz,
Foreign Affairs,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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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
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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
Noun
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Coogler can let his characters’ verbosity get the better of story momentum.—
Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2025
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Still, the challenge lies in managing the explosive verbosity that modern tools enable effortlessly.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes,
24 Feb. 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
Noun
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On their website, the three yellow stripes are prominently featured on the website under the Black Lives Matter wordage, and used on their social media accounts.—
Amritpal Kaur Sandhu-Longoria,
USA TODAY,
29 Mar. 2023
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Reached by the Union-Tribune Wednesday morning, Lindsey differed with McGillis’ wordage.—
Don Norcross,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
22 Mar. 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Periphrasis.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/periphrasis. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
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