as in rigamarole
language marked by abstractions, jargon, euphemisms, and circumlocutions
instead of simply denying our request, the mayor's representative gave us a song and dance about legal issues and municipal liability
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of song and dance
But don’t think of it as a straightforward song and dance pic because no one is actually singing dialogue.
—
Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 1 Sep. 2025
In early colonial times, churches had strict guidelines on music, song and dance.
—Kaitlyn Keegan, Hartford Courant, 19 July 2025
It’s got the big song and dance numbers, it’s got fun characters, it’s got magic tricks.
—David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 July 2025
Applicants can also upload an optional additional song and dance clip.
3.
—Philip Potempa, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for song and dance
Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 1 Sep. 2025
In early colonial times, churches had strict guidelines on music, song and dance.
—Kaitlyn Keegan, Hartford Courant, 19 July 2025
It’s got the big song and dance numbers, it’s got fun characters, it’s got magic tricks.
—David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 July 2025
Applicants can also upload an optional additional song and dance clip.
3.
—Philip Potempa, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for song and dance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for song and dance
Noun
-
Beneath Nkrumah’s elaborate rhetoric, Mazrui argued, lay a simple drive to consolidate control through a one-party state that would inevitably empower only his most loyal—and least thoughtful—allies.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
6 Oct. 2025
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If Gorsuch and Kavanaugh have attracted blowback for their individual writings of late, on the left side of the court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's rhetoric has also raised eyebrows for her slashing dissents.—
Nina Totenberg,
NPR,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
So there are all those questions and rigmarole.—
Jordan Moreau,
Variety,
24 Sep. 2025
-
No rigamarole or bureaucracy to navigate.—
Andy Meek,
Forbes.com,
31 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Bob Kring DeBary Congressional bill is full of greed The Great Big Beautiful Bill reads like 950 pages of of gobbledygook distilled into four words: Greedy, stingy, mean and short-sighted.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
2 July 2025
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The six-episode limited series feels like a long movie broken into arbitrary episodes, its ending is mired by digital gobbledygook, and Marvel still doesn’t know how magic makes sense in a universe ruled by advanced technology and literal gods.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
24 June 2025
Noun
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These parables sometimes read like gibberish, talking both down and up to the reader.—
Book Marks
October 2,
Literary Hub,
2 Oct. 2025
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My last thought, here, beware of the endless gibberish about the hazards of rotations.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
24 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Song and dance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/song%20and%20dance. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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