circumlocution

American  

[sur-kuhm-loh-kyoo-shuhn] / ˌsɜr kəm loʊˈkyu ʃən /

noun

1. a roundabout or indirect way of speaking; the use of more words than necessary to express an idea.

   Synonyms:

   prolixity, verbosity, rambling

2. a roundabout expression.

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circumlocution British  

/ -trɪ, ˌsɜːkəmləˈkjuːʃən, ˌsɜːkəmˈlɒkjʊtərɪ /

noun

1. an indirect way of expressing something

2. an indirect expression

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circumlocution Cultural  

1. Roundabout speech or writing: “The driveway was not unlike that military training device known as an obstacle course” is a circumlocution for “The driveway resembled an obstacle course.” Circumlocution comes from Latin words meaning “speaking around.”

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Other Word Forms

• circumlocutional adjective
• circumlocutionary adjective
• circumlocutory adjective
• uncircumlocutory adjective

Etymology

Origin of circumlocution

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin circumlocūtiōn- (stem of circumlocūtiō ). See circum-, locution

Example Sentences

Their circumlocutions were as entrancing as their ability to find the most precisely ironic words for difficult-to-name realities.

From Los Angeles Times

Such are the distractions of “Amsterdam,” whose curlicues and circumlocutions are genuinely interesting but grow more self-conscious and indulgent with time.

From Washington Post

The convoluted syntax, multiple negatives, indefinite antecedents, and masterful circumlocutions of this statement defy comprehension.

From Literature

Bush, famously, is a gaffe specialist, the purveyor of scrambled-hash syntax, madcap circumlocutions, spoonerisms and other “Bushisms” that have haunted the internet — or as Bush would have it, internets — for decades.

From New York Times

Beneath the malapropisms and the circumlocutions, though, Palin turned out to have a shrewder feel for Republican voters than those in the press who scorned her, and who underestimated him.

From New York Times