ZebraWords.com - The Definition of 'Circumlocution', Synonyms of 'Circumlocution' & More on 'Circumlocution'

1. WordNet® 3.0 (2006)

circumlocution
    n 1: a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things
         [syn: circumlocution, periphrasis, ambage]
    2: an indirect way of expressing something [syn:
       circumlocution, indirect expression]

2. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Circumlocution \Cir`cum*lo*cu"tion\, n. [L. circumlocutio, fr.
   circumloqui, -locutus, to make use of circumlocution; circum
   + loqui to speak. See Loquacious.]
   The use of many words to express an idea that might be
   expressed by few; indirect or roundabout language; a
   periphrase.
   [1913 Webster]

         the plain Billingsgate way of calling names . . . would
         save abundance of time lost by circumlocution. --Swift.
   [1913 Webster]

   Circumlocution office, a term of ridicule for a
      governmental office where business is delayed by passing
      through the hands of different officials.
      [1913 Webster]

Thesaurus Results for circumlocution:

1. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

ambages, anfractuosity, circling, circuition, circuitousness, circuitry, circularity, circulation, circumambages, circumambience, circumambiency, circumambulation, circumbendibus, circumflexion, circummigration, circumnavigation, circumvolution, convolution, crinkle, crinkling, deviance, deviancy, deviation, deviousness, digression, excursion, excursus, flexuosity, flexuousness, gyre, gyring, indirection, intorsion, involution, meander, meandering, obliqueness, orbit, orbiting, periphrase, periphrasis, pleonasm, redundancy, rivulation, roundabout, roundaboutness, rounding, sinuation, sinuosity, sinuousness, slinkiness, snakiness, spiral, spiraling, tautology, torsion, tortility, tortuosity, tortuousness, turn, turning, twisting, undulation, verbality, wave, waving, wheeling, winding

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