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
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
The story of the song and dance is a little convoluted.
—Mark Gray, People.com, 3 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for 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
The story of the song and dance is a little convoluted.
—Mark Gray, People.com, 3 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for song and dance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for song and dance
Noun
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But Herrero, of the Cuba Study Group, argued that this kind of rhetoric is better understood as electoral gamesmanship.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
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Watson and Radcliffe have consistently voiced support for transgender rights, sometimes in direct contrast to Rowling reiterating hurtful rhetoric that is tied to the TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) movement, which posits the belief that trans women are not women.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Sep. 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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My last thought, here, beware of the endless gibberish about the hazards of rotations.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
24 Aug. 2025
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Her toddler, who was almost two, leaned over the railing and called out to the agents in baby gibberish, but the agents did not acknowledge her.—
Jordan Salama,
New Yorker,
25 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Song and dance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/song%20and%20dance. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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