periphrasis
noun
the use of an unnecessarily long or roundabout form of expression; circumlocution.
periphrase
-
a variation of
periphrasis.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But her further questioning was met with a frank, amiable, and simple brevity that was as puzzling as the most artful periphrase of tact.
From By Shore and Sedge by Bret Harte
Yes; it was the usual periphrase of these vulgar people.
From Charlotte's Inheritance by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon
The mot propre, the calling of a spade a spade, was the great commandment of Romanticism; but it must be allowed that what was taken away in periphrase was made up in adjectives.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 2 "French Literature" to "Frost, William" by Various
The sun, which Dubartas, that classic ancestor of periphrase, had not yet dubbed the "Grand-duke of Candles," was none the less radiant and joyous on that account.
From Notre-Dame De Paris by Isabel Florence Hapgood
It is to be noted that the age of periphrase in verse was the age of crudities in prose.
From Les Misérables by Isabel Florence Hapgood
