periphrastic
adjUK /ˌpɛ.ɹɪˈfɹæ.stik/ · CA, US /ˌpɛ.ɹəˈfɹæ.stɪk/
Etymology Borrowed from Ancient Greek περιφραστικός (periphrastikós), from περίφρασις (períphrasis, “periphrasis”).
1
Expressed in more words than are necessary.
- 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.
2 more examples
- As poetry it does not measure up to Aasen; as translation it is periphrastic, arbitrary, not at all faithful.1916, Martin Brown Ruud, An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway:
- That was a way of putting it—not very satisfactory/ A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion/ Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle / With words and meanings.1940, T. S. Eliot, East Coker:
2
Indirect in naming an entity; circumlocutory.
- In writing, they deem it irreverent to express the Supreme Being [and] in conversation they generally use a periphrastic epithet, such as the All-Good.1871, Edward Bulwer-Lytton (published anonymously), The Coming Race, Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons:
3
Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences Characterized by periphrasis.
- “The daughter of the man” may be used as a periphrastic synonym for “the man’s daughter”.
- Derived terms
- nonperiphrastic, periphrastically, unperiphrastic
- Related terms
- periphrase, periphrasis, periphrastic conjugation, paraphrastic