circumlocution

American  

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

noun

circumlocutions plural

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• circumlocutions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of circumlocution

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

Explanation

Circumlocution is a long, complicated word which means a long, complicated way of expressing something. To cut to the chase, circumlocution means beating around the bush. Circumlocution comes from the Latin words circum, "circle," and loqui, "to speak." So circumlocution is speaking in circles, going round and round in a wordy way without ever getting to the heart of the matter. It's an evasive style of argument, best employed when you really don't want to say what's on your mind.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

circumlocution circumlocutions

But in terms of its actual content, the statement was pretty thin gruel, bristling with public relations-style circumlocution and vagueness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026

His clumsy circumlocution reflects a desire to wriggle out from answering for the consequences of one’s own choices, a basic inability to make a defense masquerading as a defense.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 2, 2019

So what’s with all the indirection and artful circumlocution and what-the-meaning-of-is-is tightrope walking?

From Salon ● May 30, 2019

Not long ago, Joe Biden, who stuttered openly into college, undertook a famously weird circumlocution seemingly to avoid landing on the word Avatar—a sound that he'd just nearly blocked on.

From Slate ● Dec. 6, 2017

He shuddered at his own craven circumlocution, using so meaningless a word to obscure so hideous a truth.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2025

In truth, while Ros’s pathos-filled classic now reads as unintentionally comic, its euphuistic style isn’t that much different from the circumlocutions found in late Henry James.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 21, 2018

Corey’s dizzying mix of mock-intellectual circumlocutions, earnest political tirades and slapstick one-liners made him the king of comedic confusion and earned him the nickname “professor.”

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 10, 2017

Here at last, it seemed, was someone willing to cut through the bland circumlocutions and communicate what no one else was brave enough to spell out.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 25, 2015

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

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis