periphrastic
/,peri'fræstik/
Definition
Adjective 1. Expressing a grammatical relationship using separate words instead of inflection: Describing a construction that uses a combination of auxiliary words (like prepositions or helping verbs) to convey a meaning that could also be expressed by a single inflected word. 2. Roundabout and unnecessarily wordy; circumlocutory: Using more words than necessary to express an idea; indirect in speech or writing.
Examples
- Grammatical Usage:
- In English, the future tense is often periphrastic, formed with "will" or "going to" plus the base verb (e.g., "I will go"), unlike in some languages where it is a single verb form.
- "The father of the child" is a periphrastic way of saying "the child's father."
- Stylistic Usage:
- His periphrastic explanation of a simple concept confused everyone in the meeting.
- The lawyer's periphrastic language seemed designed to obscure the facts rather than clarify them.
Advanced Usage
- Linguistics: In linguistic analysis, a construction contrasts with a synthetic one. For example, the English comparative "more beautiful" is , while the Latin form "pulchrior" is a synthetic, single-word inflection.
- Literary Criticism: A style can be a deliberate literary device to create a formal, elevated, or ironic tone, as noted in T.S. Eliot's critique of a "worn-out poetical fashion."
Variants and Related Words
- Periphrasis (n): The noun form meaning the use of expression; a roundabout way of speaking.
- The essay was full of unnecessary periphrasis.
- Circumlocutory (adj): Synonymous with the stylistic sense of , meaning using many words where fewer would do.
- Ambagious (adj, archaic): An archaic synonym for roundabout or indirect in speech.
Synonyms
- Circumlocutory
- Prolix
- Verbose
- Indirect
- Roundabout
Antonyms
- Concise
- Succinct
- Direct
- Forthright
- Terse
Related Phrases and Idioms
- Beating around the bush: An idiomatic expression similar to the stylistic meaning of , meaning to avoid addressing a topic directly.
- Stop being so periphrastic and tell me what you really think—stop beating around the bush.
Adjective
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roundabout and unnecessarily wordy; (`ambagious' is archaic)
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had a preference for circumlocutious (or circumlocutory) rather than forthright expression
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A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion,/ Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle/ With words and meanings.-T.S.Eliot
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