periphrastic
Adjective Satellite
- roundabout and unnecessarily wordy; ; -T.S.Eliot; (`ambagious' is archaic)
- "A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion,/ Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle/ With words and meanings."
Adj
- Expressed in more words than are necessary.
- Indirect in naming an entity; circumlocutory.
- Characterized by periphrasis.
Examples
- He wrote a periphrastic love letter to his wife to patch up their relationship.
- She was simply asked to express how she felt, but her response was periphrastic.
- “The daughter of the man” may be used as a periphrastic synonym for “the man’s daughter”.
Origin / Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek περιφραστικός (periphrastikós), from περίφρασις (períphrasis, “periphrasis”).
Synonyms
Scrabble Score: 21
periphrastic: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordperiphrastic: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
periphrastic: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 23
periphrastic: valid Words With Friends Word