perlocutionary

[pur-luh-kyoo-shuh-ner-ee]

adjective Philosophy, Linguistics.

(of a speech act) producing an effect upon the listener, as in persuading, frightening, amusing, or causing the listener to act.

Compare illocutionary, locutionary.

Origin of perlocutionary

First recorded in 1950–55; per- + locution + -ary

Related formsper·lo·cu·tion, noun

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