1
as in ambiguity
deliberate evasion in speech
rather than answering the question directly, he resorted to circumlocution, which made her suspect that he was hiding something
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in repetition
the use of too many words to express an idea
your papers have to be five pages long, but that's five pages of substance, not circumlocution
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of circumlocution
Here, instead, she’s swayed by a dead Diana softly squeezing her hand and kindly hinting — the dead Diana is an ace at tactful circumlocution — that now is the time to show a mourning nation some emotion.
—
Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 16 Nov. 2023
By condensing Balzac’s opus to a few paragraphs, Barthelme was having a laugh not just at his predecessor’s genteel circumlocution—his tendency to describe buildings and manufacturing procedures and family trees in lavish detail—but also at the conventions of novelistic mimesis itself.
—Giles Harvey, The New York Review of Books, 23 Apr. 2020
This year, House Republicans unveiled a new Conservative Climate Caucus that, in a fascinating circumlocution, sort of recognizes that fossil fuels are causing the planet to warm.
—Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2022
Powell’s statement yesterday (September 22) is the masterpiece of its type, building upon fifteen months of this playful circumlocution, downshifting into bureaucratic blandness.
—George Calhoun, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2021
But the national crisis in policing and the response to it isn’t a matter of arid elite debate or familiar political circumlocution and compromise anymore.
—David Roth, The New Republic, 11 June 2020
These circumlocutions are meant to emphasize the fact that Africans traded like chattel were not, in their essence, slaves but human beings.
—Lionel Shriver, Harper's magazine, 25 Nov. 2019
Although incredibly popular, with 60% approval ratings, Ahok was considered by many to be a divisive figure, by virtue both of his minority status and of his bluntness, which ran counter to Javanese traditions of deference and circumlocution.
—The Economist, 12 Apr. 2018
Mungiu, like many Romanian directors, has a sadistic streak for circumlocution.
—Jordan Hoffman, VanityFair.com, 6 Apr. 2017
Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 16 Nov. 2023
By condensing Balzac’s opus to a few paragraphs, Barthelme was having a laugh not just at his predecessor’s genteel circumlocution—his tendency to describe buildings and manufacturing procedures and family trees in lavish detail—but also at the conventions of novelistic mimesis itself.
—Giles Harvey, The New York Review of Books, 23 Apr. 2020
This year, House Republicans unveiled a new Conservative Climate Caucus that, in a fascinating circumlocution, sort of recognizes that fossil fuels are causing the planet to warm.
—Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2022
Powell’s statement yesterday (September 22) is the masterpiece of its type, building upon fifteen months of this playful circumlocution, downshifting into bureaucratic blandness.
—George Calhoun, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2021
But the national crisis in policing and the response to it isn’t a matter of arid elite debate or familiar political circumlocution and compromise anymore.
—David Roth, The New Republic, 11 June 2020
These circumlocutions are meant to emphasize the fact that Africans traded like chattel were not, in their essence, slaves but human beings.
—Lionel Shriver, Harper's magazine, 25 Nov. 2019
Although incredibly popular, with 60% approval ratings, Ahok was considered by many to be a divisive figure, by virtue both of his minority status and of his bluntness, which ran counter to Javanese traditions of deference and circumlocution.
—The Economist, 12 Apr. 2018
Mungiu, like many Romanian directors, has a sadistic streak for circumlocution.
—Jordan Hoffman, VanityFair.com, 6 Apr. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumlocution
Noun
-
The ruling opens the door to discovery on Paramount’s understanding of its deal with WBD and whether the company took fraudulent measures to take advantage of ambiguity in the contract.—
Winston Cho,
The Hollywood Reporter,
22 Jan. 2025
-
This state of ambiguity often leads to avoidance behavior, where people choose to stick with familiar but less desirable options because the unknown feels riskier.—
Tess Brigham,
Forbes,
20 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Typically, Pilates exercises are performed in a sequence of three to five repetitions to build strength and improve flexibility.—
Sarah Jividen,
Verywell Health,
21 Jan. 2025
-
As Sabalenka found out in 2022, razing a service motion built up through a lifetime of repetitions is one of the most vulnerable things a tennis player can do.—
Matthew Futterman,
The Athletic,
12 Jan. 2025
Noun
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If stuck, players can hit the shuffle button, which will mix up where the words appear on the screen.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
30 Jan. 2025
-
The corporate shuffle, effective April 1, was approved late Tuesday by the electronics and entertainment giant’s board of directors in Tokyo.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
29 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Decision Made After all, that question about full speed ahead or hold your horses has been settled without equivocation.—
Eli Amdur,
Forbes,
21 Jan. 2025
-
This moral equivocation has sent a signal of impunity to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who now openly threatens Armenia's sovereignty.—
John Mac Ghlionn,
Newsweek,
14 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Anyway, political verbosity, as measured by State of the Union addresses, has risen during the twenty-first century.—
Daniel Immerwahr,
The New Yorker,
20 Jan. 2025
-
When that’s chucked in a blender with his own penchant for spiky-savvy verbosity, the results fizz and pop.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Take this example: a Microsoft team is just now figuring out how to use a diffusion model to find new materials that can fit the bill for high-tech projects.—
John Werner,
Forbes,
21 Jan. 2025
-
One is the prospect that uncontrolled diffusion of advanced AI could empower the world’s most dangerous state and nonstate actors, and potentially rogue autonomous AI systems themselves, to develop catastrophic cyber- and bioweapons or unleash other existential national security threats.—
Colin H. Kahl,
Foreign Affairs,
17 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Just as the limitless space of web text tempts writers to indulge their logorrhea, the blinking, ever-transmuting, cartoonish interface of web browsers prevents would-be readers from paying attention to anything for longer than about 7 seconds.—
Barton Swaim,
WSJ,
19 Sep. 2022
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Nor has Musk kept his Twitter logorrhea in check in other respects.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2022
Noun
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On their website, the three yellow stripes are prominently featured on the website under the Black Lives Matter wordage, and used on their social media accounts.—
Amritpal Kaur Sandhu-Longoria,
USA TODAY,
29 Mar. 2023
-
Reached by the Union-Tribune Wednesday morning, Lindsey differed with McGillis’ wordage.—
Don Norcross,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
22 Mar. 2023
Thesaurus Entries Near circumlocution
Cite this Entry
“Circumlocution.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumlocution. Accessed 3 Feb. 2025.
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