English
circumlocution
Etymology

From .

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˌsɜːkəmləˈkjuːʃən/
  • (America) IPA: /ˌsɝkəmləˈkjuʃən/
Noun

circumlocution

  1. (uncountable) A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; thus:
    1. (uncountable) Unnecessary use of extra words to express an idea, such as a pleonastic phrase (sometimes driven by an attempt at emphatic clarity) or a wordy substitution (the latter driven by euphemistic intent, pedagogic intent, or sometimes loquaciousness alone).
    2. (uncountable) Necessary use of a phrase to circumvent either a vocabulary fault (of speaker or listener) or a accidental gap, either monolingually or in translation.
      A technical word, such as hyperkalemia or hypoallergenic, can be glossed for general audiences with a circumlocution, such as "high potassium level" or "less likely to cause allergies" (respectively).
  2. (countable) An instance of such usage; a roundabout expression, whether an inadvisable one or a necessary one.
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