periphrasis

American  

[puh-rif-ruh-sis] / pəˈrɪf rə sɪs /

Also periphrase

noun

periphrases plural

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

2. an expression phrased in such fashion.

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periphrasis British  

/ pəˈrɪfrəsɪs /

noun

1. a roundabout way of expressing something; circumlocution

2. an expression of this kind

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• periphrases
  plural

Etymology

Origin of periphrasis

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

Explanation

When you choose a longer or less straightforward way of saying something, you use periphrasis. One example of periphrasis is describing someone as "more intelligent" instead of "smarter." Choosing a two-word description instead of the one-word equivalent (like "more lengthy" rather than "longer") is one way to use periphrasis. This also happens when you use a longer phrase, like "give a presentation," instead of a single word that conveys the same meaning, "present." Using many words to describe something instead of a simple noun is also periphrasis: "the mother of my father," for example, instead of "grandmother." The Greek root, periphrazein, means "speak in a roundabout way."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

periphrasis periphrases

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!”

From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2020

This periphrasis so fascinated Charles W. Morton, now the associate editor of the Atlantic, that he began collecting examples of "Elongated Yellow Fruit" writing.

From Time Magazine Archive

Oddly, they all speak the same puckish periphrasis.

From Time Magazine Archive

This proves that the use of that periphrasis was general, and that it must have dated back to a much earlier period.

From The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism by Cumont, Franz

"The ordinary channels of information," to use Sir Robert's periphrasis, are the extraordinary ones too; and not only do they contain whatever Ministers know, but very often "something more."

From Diary And Notes Of Horace Templeton, Esq. Volume II (of II) by Lever, Charles James

Participles.—These are active and passive, perfect and imperfect, in the old language, but all are replaced by periphrases in Coptic.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 1 "Edwardes" to "Ehrenbreitstein" by Various

In ordinary conversation do not seek periphrases, subtleties, or figures of speech.

From George Washington's Rules of Civility Traced to their Sources and Restored by Moncure D. Conway by Conway, Moncure Daniel

All who have even a slight acquaintance with sagas know the extraordinary periphrases for common objects, for men and maidens, for ships and swords, that bestrew them.

From The Flourishing of Romance and the Rise of Allegory (Periods of European Literature, vol. II) by Saintsbury, George

He that hath complex ideas without names for them, wants liberty and dispatch in his expressions, and is necessitated to use periphrases.

From An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Volume 2 MDCXC, Based on the 2nd Edition, Books 3 and 4 by Locke, John

All these things might be alleged against Lydgate, but then, they are the periphrases of a polite preacher, who talks of Adam, and would not like to mention anything painful to the pew-renters.

From Middlemarch by Eliot, George

Related Words

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