rhetorically

[ri-tawr-ik-lee, -tor-]

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.

Other Word Forms

• nonrhetorically adverb
• unrhetorically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of rhetorically¹

rhetorical ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

He is, I hasten to add, a good and safe driver, aggressive only rhetorically.

From Los Angeles Times

If no one is technically being detained, Gomez said he rhetorically asked the official during their call, are they free to leave?

From Los Angeles Times

“Why couldn’t she come out and‘oh, poor Tam’ and all that, you know?” she asks rhetorically.

From Los Angeles Times

“You need an emergency, both rhetorically and legally, to engage in authoritarian behavior,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said he felt the penalty was "very harsh" and asked rhetorically: "Whatever happened to 'let them race on the first lap?' That just seems to have been abandoned."

From BBC