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periphrastic

adj
/ˌpɛ.ɹɪˈfɹæ.stik/UK/ˌpɛ.ɹəˈfɹæ.stɪk/CA

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek περιφραστικός (periphrastikós), from περίφρασις (períphrasis, “periphrasis”).

  1. derived from περιφραστικός

Definitions

  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.
    • As poetry it does not measure up to Aasen; as translation it is periphrastic, arbitrary, not at all faithful.

  2. Indirect in naming an entity

    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.

  3. Characterized by periphrasis.

    • “The daughter of the man” may be used as a periphrastic synonym for “the man’s daughter”.

The neighborhood

Derived

nonperiphrastic, periphrastically, unperiphrastic

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for periphrastic. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA