verbalism

American  

[vur-buh-liz-uhm] / ˈvɜr bəˌlɪz əm /

noun

1. a verbal expression, as a word or phrase.

2. the way in which something is worded; choice of words; phrasing.

3. a phrase or sentence having little or no meaning.

4. a use of words considered as predominating over or obscuring ideas or reality; verbiage.

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verbalism British  

/ ˈvɜːbəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. a verbal expression; phrase or word

2. an exaggerated emphasis on the importance of words by the uncritical acceptance of assertions in place of explanations, the use of rhetorical style, etc

3. a statement lacking real content, esp a cliché

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Etymology

Origin of verbalism

First recorded in 1780–90; verbal + -ism

Example Sentences

Through the echoes of the new verbalism, one can sense the distress of that crystal spirit, George Orwell.

From Time Magazine Archive

This use of words would again become mere verbalism, a mere talking about words—mere speculation having nothing to do with facts or with correct thinking, in which there is no intermixing of dimensions.

From Manhood of Humanity. by Korzybski, Alfred

There is a certain affinity, apparently at least, between that formal vice of verbalism and another defect of the mind, whose origins may, however, be varied.

From Essays on the Materialistic Conception of History by Labriola, Antonio

Perhaps more than anyone else, the Fabians are responsible for turning English socialist thought from the verbalism of the Marxian disciples to the actualities of English political life.

From A Preface to Politics by Lippmann, Walter

We may surround the subject with a vague and attractive idealistic verbalism, but we come back to this as a starting point.

From Theism or Atheism The Great Alternative by Cohen, Chapman