periphrasis

[ puh-rif-ruh-sis ]

noun

, plural pe·riph·ra·ses [p, uh, -, rif, -r, uh, -seez].

1. the use of an unnecessarily long or roundabout form of expression; circumlocution.
2. an expression phrased in such fashion.

periphrasis

/ pəˈrɪfrəsɪs /

noun

1. a roundabout way of expressing something; circumlocution
2. an expression of this kind

Word History and Origins

Origin of periphrasis¹

1525–35; < Latin < Greek períphrasis. See peri-, phrase, -sis

Word History and Origins

Origin of periphrasis¹

C16: via Latin from Greek, from peri- + phrazein to declare

Example Sentences

Prince Bumpo, the heir to the throne, is a mooncalf who mistakes fairy tales for real life, speaks in Elizabethan periphrasis and murmurs to himself: “If only I were a white prince!”

From New York Times

Literary translation is challenging, and tends to work best when the translator has recourse to the amplifying and telescoping powers of periphrasis, poetic license, and, if it comes to it, a discreet footnote here or there.

From The New Yorker

If a Prime Minister were to announce to the House of Commons, to-morrow, that the Queen had boxed his ears, it would not create a whit more amazement than if he were to say, no matter in what graceful and diplomatic periphrasis, that her Majesty was unwilling to agree to some measure which her faithful Commons desired to see passed into law.

From Project Gutenberg

Respecting the cause of these phenomena, the nature of the force to which, to avoid periphrasis, I have ventured to give the name of Psychic, and the correlation existing between that and the other forces of nature, it would be wrong to hazard the most vague hypothesis.

From Project Gutenberg

It is very odd—but if you see a remarkably modest-looking woman in Paris, you may be sure, as the periphrasis goes, that "she is no better than she should be."

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• attrition