ambage
Definition
Noun: 1. Indirect or roundabout expression: A style of speaking or writing that uses unnecessarily complex, vague, or evasive language instead of being direct and clear. It often involves deliberate circumlocution.
Usage
- Ambage is a formal and somewhat literary noun, typically used in discussions of rhetoric, writing style, or critical analysis of speech. It describes the or of indirectness itself.
- It is often used in the plural form "ambages" to mean indirect or winding paths of language.
- Common structures: "to speak in ambage," "the ambage of his prose," "without ambage."
Examples
- The politician's answer was pure ambage, skillfully avoiding a direct commitment.
- Modernist poetry is sometimes criticized for its deliberate ambage, which can obscure meaning.
- We have no time for ambage; please state your position clearly and without evasion.
Advanced Usage
- "To speak without ambage": To speak plainly, directly, and without beating around the bush.
- Let me speak without ambage: the project has failed.
- The term can be used metaphorically beyond language to describe any intentionally indirect or circuitous process.
Variants and Related Words
- Circumlocution (n): The use of many words where fewer would do, especially in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive. (A close synonym).
- Periphrasis (n): The use of indirect and circumlocutory speech or writing.
- Ambiguous (adj): Open to more than one interpretation; not having one obvious meaning.
- Tergiversation (n): Evasion of direct action or clear statement; equivocation.
Synonyms
- Circumlocution
- Indirectness
- Periphrasis
- Tergiversation
- Equivocation
- Evasiveness
Antonyms
- Directness
- Candor
- Frankness
- Plainness
- Straightforwardness
Related Idioms and Phrases
- To beat around the bush: To avoid talking about what is important.
- To mince words: To speak vaguely or indirectly, especially to avoid offense.
- In a roundabout way: Not in a simple, direct, or quick way.
Noun
-
a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things
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