circumlocutionnoun [ C or U ]
uk/ˌsɜː.kəm.ləˈkjuː.ʃən/us/ˌsɝː.kəm.ləˈkjuː.ʃən/formal(an example of) an indirect way of saying something, especially something unpleasant:
"Economical with the truth" is a circumlocution for "lying".
Politicians are experts in circumlocution.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Digressing and being indirect or evasive
- beat
- discursive
- elliptical
- evasive
- go (all) round the houses idiom
- go off on a tangent idiom
- implicit
- meander
- move off sth/on (to sth)
- obliquely
- parry
- sanitize
- sidestep
- skirt
- stray
- suggestion
- talk around sth
- tangent
- tiptoe
- tiptoe around sth/sb
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circumlocutory
adjective uk/ˌsɜː.kəm.ləˈkjuː.tər.i/us/ˌsɝː.kəm.ləˈkjuː.t̬ɚ.i/