periphrasis

Also per·i·phrase

[puh-rif-ruh-sis]

noun

plural

periphrases 

1. the use of an unnecessarily long or roundabout form of expression; circumlocution.

2. an expression phrased in such fashion.

periphrasis

/ pəˈrɪfrəsɪs /

noun

1. a roundabout way of expressing something; circumlocution

2. an expression of this kind

Word History and Origins

Origin of periphrasis¹

1525–35; < Latin < Greek períphrasis. See peri-, phrase, -sis

Word History and Origins

Origin of periphrasis¹

C16: via Latin from Greek, from _peri- + phrazein to declare

Example Sentences

Prince Bumpo, the heir to the throne, is a mooncalf who mistakes fairy tales for real life, speaks in Elizabethan periphrasis and murmurs to himself: “If only I were a white prince!”

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This will sometimes require the use of unfamiliar periphrases: the words “music” and “rites” may be given as “the rhythm of life” and “conformity to the ideology.”

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It is very odd—but if you see a remarkably modest-looking woman in Paris, you may be sure, as the periphrasis goes, that "she is no better than she should be."

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What hasty words, I wonder, of the rude and haughty admiral were represented by this sonorous periphrasis?

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He gradually acquired a reputation as a poet by his epistles, in which things are not called by their ordinary names but are hinted at by elaborate periphrases.

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Related Words

• attrition