periphrastic

American  

[per-uh-fras-tik] / ˌpɛr əˈfræs tɪk /

adjective

1. circumlocutory; roundabout.

2. 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.

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periphrastic British  

/ ˌpɛrɪˈfræstɪk /

adjective

1. employing or involving periphrasis

2. 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

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Other Word Forms

• periphrastically adverb
• unperiphrastic adjective
• unperiphrastically adverb

Etymology

Origin of periphrastic

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

Example Sentences

But it seems to this reader, Rebecca becoming Maud also speaks to the preoccupation of this entire book: the periphrastic construction of identity itself.

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2022

He misrepresents, distorts, bisects sentences and employs periphrastic phrases to make his points.

From Time Magazine Archive

He might be described as the last of the periphrastic humorists.

From Old and New Masters by Lynd, Robert

Manx exhibits the same tendency as Scottish to use analytical and periphrastic forms in the verb, thus jannoo, “to do,” is used like Scottish deanamh with an infinitive to express the past and future.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5 "Cat" to "Celt" by Various

Something is due to the proprieties, and to accuse a man of deviations from candour and truth is of course merely a slightly periphrastic method of charging him with falsehood.

From The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion by Dent, John Charles