circumlocution
/ˌsəːkəmləˈkjuːʃ(ə)n
/noun [mass noun]
The use of many words where fewer would do, especially in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive: his admission came after years of circumlocution [count noun]: he used a number of poetic circumlocutions...
- Large bureaucracies seem to inherently foster a culture that favours circumlocution, jargon and euphemism.
- A certain kind of Briton prefers circumlocution and euphemism for even everyday speech: ‘I wonder if I could trouble you for a glass of water?’
- In order to refer to that activity, it is necessary to engage in circumlocution or periphrasis.
Synonyms
periphrasis, circuitousness, indirectness;
tautology, repetition, repetitiveness, repetitiousness, diffuseness, discursiveness, long-windedness, verbosity, wordiness, prolixity, verbiage, redundancy, superfluity;
euphemism
informal beating about the bush
rare pleonasm, perissology
Derivatives
circumlocutional
circumlocutionary
circumlocutionist
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin circumlocutio(n-) (translating Greek periphrasis), from circum 'around' + locutio(n-) from loqui 'speak'.