'Circumlocution' definitions:
Definition of 'circumlocution'
(from WordNet)
noun
A style that involves indirect ways of expressing things [syn: circumlocution, periphrasis, ambage]
noun
An indirect way of expressing something [syn: circumlocution, indirect expression]
Definition of 'Circumlocution'
From: GCIDE
- Circumlocution \Cir`cum*lo*cu"tion\, n. [L. circumlocutio, fr. circumloqui, -locutus, to make use of circumlocution; circum + loqui to speak. See Loquacious.] The use of many words to express an idea that might be expressed by few; indirect or roundabout language; a periphrase. [1913 Webster]
- the plain Billingsgate way of calling names . . . would save abundance of time lost by circumlocution. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
- Circumlocution office, a term of ridicule for a governmental office where business is delayed by passing through the hands of different officials. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'circumlocution'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- ambages,
- anfractuosity,
- circling,
- circuition,
- circuitousness,
- circuitry,
- circularity,
- circulation,
- circumambages,
- circumambience,
- circumambiency,
- circumambulation,
- circumbendibus,
- circumflexion,
- circummigration,
- circumnavigation,
- circumvolution,
- convolution,
- crinkle,
- crinkling,
- deviance,
- deviancy,
- deviation,
- deviousness,
- digression,
- excursion,
- excursus,
- flexuosity,
- flexuousness,
- gyre,
- gyring,
- indirection,
- intorsion,
- involution,
- meander,
- meandering,
- obliqueness,
- orbit,
- orbiting,
- periphrase,
- periphrasis,
- pleonasm,
- redundancy,
- rivulation,
- roundabout,
- roundaboutness,
- rounding,
- sinuation,
- sinuosity,
- sinuousness,
- slinkiness,
- snakiness,
- spiral,
- spiraling,
- tautology,
- torsion,
- tortility,
- tortuosity,
- tortuousness,
- turn,
- turning,
- twisting,
- undulation,
- verbality,
- wave,
- waving,
- wheeling,
- winding