periphrastic

[per-uh-fras-tik]

See more synonyms for periphrastic on Thesaurus.com

adjective

circumlocutory; roundabout.
Grammar. noting a construction of two or more words having the same syntactic function as an inflected word, as of Mr. Smith in the son of Mr. Smith, which is equivalent to Mr. Smith's in Mr. Smith's son.

Origin of periphrastic

1795–1805; < Greek periphrastikós, derivative of periphrázein to use periphrasis. See peri-, phrase, -tic

Related formsper·i·phras·ti·cal·ly, adverbun·per·i·phras·tic, adjectiveun·per·i·phras·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for periphrastic

bombastic, chatty, diffuse, discursive, flatulent, gabby, garrulous, inflated, lengthy, long-winded, loquacious, pleonastic, prolix, rambling, redundant, rhetorical, tedious, turgid, verbose, voluble

Examples from the Web for periphrastic

Historical Examples of periphrastic

He might be described as the last of the periphrastic humorists.
Old and New Masters
Robert Lynd
The periphrastic tenses are formed on the same principles as in Mth.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7
Various
Periphrastic epithets are part of the original and common stock of the Teutonic poetry.
Epic and Romance
W. P. Ker
Using these as auxiliaries the finite verb makes a whole series of periphrastic tenses.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6
Various
In conversation they generally use a periphrastic epithet, such as the All-Good.
The Coming Race
Edward Bulwer Lytton

British Dictionary definitions for periphrastic

periphrastic

adjective

employing or involving periphrasis
expressed in two or more words rather than by an inflected form of one: used esp of a tense of a verb where the alternative element is an auxiliary verb. For example, He does go and He will go involve periphrastic tenses

Derived Formsperiphrastically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for periphrastic

adj.

1805, from French périphrastique and directly from Greek periphrastikos, from periphrazein (see periphrasis). Related: Periphrastical (1630s).