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

“You’re now a beautiful, strong flower, who must protect your delicate petals and clean them regularly,” she adds, in one of the film’s more hilarious examples of motherly misunderstanding and circumlocution.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 9, 2022

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

From Salon ● May 30, 2019

For anyone else, selling an exposé as questionably founded as this would be an exercise in circumlocution, obfuscation and half-truths.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 24, 2018

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

But some are prone to ludicrous circumlocutions like “Johnny faces challenges in the lived experience of interactions with his peer group in educational spaces,” instead of “Johnny doesn’t get along with his classmates.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

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 ● Oct. 4, 2022

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 ● Apr. 4, 2022

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