rhetorically

American  

[ri-tawr-ik-lee, -tor-] / rɪˈtɔr ɪk li, -ˈtɒr- /

adverb

1. in a way that uses language for style or effect.

   These essays discuss how the term participatory has been deployed rhetorically by a range of institutions.

2. not expecting an answer, either because the answer is unknowable or because it is obvious.

   I am not asking the question rhetorically or snidely.

3. in way that uses language in an exaggerated way.

   The realities of the global marketplace are quite apparent; they don't need to be rhetorically beaten to death.

4. in a way that uses specialized literary language, such as figures of speech.

   Some of the entries are concise, but most of them are verbally and rhetorically elaborate.

5. in a way that uses language particularly effectively.

   Her testimony was rhetorically strong, but scientifically weak.

6. using words, especially in the absence of action.

   He fails to demonstrate the validity of his claims, but merely asserts them rhetorically.

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Other Word Forms

• nonrhetorically
  adverb
• unrhetorically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of rhetorically

rhetorical ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rhetorically

Graham was, rhetorically, almost pathetically in Trump’s thrall, heaping flattery onto a president who’d once posted Graham’s phone number online for mass harassment.

From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026

Leibovich recorded Graham asking rhetorically at a rally in Greeneville, South Carolina, about rumors he had changed.

From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026

There was a rhetorically violent disagreement between him and the others.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

At times he rhetorically asks, “whachoo talkin’ about, Dr. O-lis?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

Lee asked Madison rhetorically: “Is your love for the constitution so ardent...that it should produce ruin to your native country?”

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis