Definition of Periphrasis

a manner of speaking that uses more words than necessary to evoke a certain meaning

Examples of Periphrasis in a sentence

To get out of talking about a taboo subject, the speaker used periphrasis and rambled on and on rather poetically about other things.  🔊

Periphrasis can make speech long-winded but describing a bee as ‘a yellow and black winged thing’ can help a child learn a new word.  🔊

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