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

Oddly, they all speak the same puckish periphrasis.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

There is incomparably more beauty and force in expressing the energy of the Verb, with its personal relation and concomitant circumstances, in one word, than by a periphrasis of pronouns and auxiliaries.

From Elements of Gaelic Grammar by Alexander Stewart

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 Franz Cumont

Robertson was, perhaps, the first man to adapt the polished periphrases of the pulpit to historical generalization.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 6 "English Language" to "Epsom Salts" by Various

The piece was written in the style of a tragic serial story: abstract phrases, bureaucratic epithets, academic periphrases.

From Jean Christophe: in Paris The Market-Place, Antoinette, the House by Gilbert Cannan

But Mr. Frazer has remarked that periphrases for sacred beasts, like ‘Big Feet’ for Bear, are not uncommon. 

From Modern Mythology by Andrew Lang

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.”

From The Political Doctrines of Sun Yat-sen: An Exposition of the San Min Chu I by Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger

He has remnants of the old periphrases, the cumbrous mythological allusions, the poetical “properties” of French verse.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 2 "French Literature" to "Frost, William" by Various

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