1
as in ambiguity
deliberate evasion in speech
rather than answering the question directly, he resorted to circumlocution, which made her suspect that he was hiding something
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in repetition
the use of too many words to express an idea
your papers have to be five pages long, but that's five pages of substance, not circumlocution
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of circumlocution
But in terms of its actual content, the statement was pretty thin gruel, bristling with public relations-style circumlocution and vagueness.
—
Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2026
Here, instead, she’s swayed by a dead Diana softly squeezing her hand and kindly hinting — the dead Diana is an ace at tactful circumlocution — that now is the time to show a mourning nation some emotion.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 16 Nov. 2023
This year, House Republicans unveiled a new Conservative Climate Caucus that, in a fascinating circumlocution, sort of recognizes that fossil fuels are causing the planet to warm.
—Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2022
Powell’s statement yesterday (September 22) is the masterpiece of its type, building upon fifteen months of this playful circumlocution, downshifting into bureaucratic blandness.
—George Calhoun, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2021
But the national crisis in policing and the response to it isn’t a matter of arid elite debate or familiar political circumlocution and compromise anymore.
—David Roth, The New Republic, 11 June 2020
By condensing Balzac’s opus to a few paragraphs, Barthelme was having a laugh not just at his predecessor’s genteel circumlocution—his tendency to describe buildings and manufacturing procedures and family trees in lavish detail—but also at the conventions of novelistic mimesis itself.
—Giles Harvey, The New York Review of Books, 23 Apr. 2020
These circumlocutions are meant to emphasize the fact that Africans traded like chattel were not, in their essence, slaves but human beings.
—Lionel Shriver, Harper's magazine, 25 Nov. 2019
Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2026
Here, instead, she’s swayed by a dead Diana softly squeezing her hand and kindly hinting — the dead Diana is an ace at tactful circumlocution — that now is the time to show a mourning nation some emotion.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 16 Nov. 2023
This year, House Republicans unveiled a new Conservative Climate Caucus that, in a fascinating circumlocution, sort of recognizes that fossil fuels are causing the planet to warm.
—Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2022
Powell’s statement yesterday (September 22) is the masterpiece of its type, building upon fifteen months of this playful circumlocution, downshifting into bureaucratic blandness.
—George Calhoun, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2021
But the national crisis in policing and the response to it isn’t a matter of arid elite debate or familiar political circumlocution and compromise anymore.
—David Roth, The New Republic, 11 June 2020
By condensing Balzac’s opus to a few paragraphs, Barthelme was having a laugh not just at his predecessor’s genteel circumlocution—his tendency to describe buildings and manufacturing procedures and family trees in lavish detail—but also at the conventions of novelistic mimesis itself.
—Giles Harvey, The New York Review of Books, 23 Apr. 2020
These circumlocutions are meant to emphasize the fact that Africans traded like chattel were not, in their essence, slaves but human beings.
—Lionel Shriver, Harper's magazine, 25 Nov. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumlocution
Noun
-
Markets didn’t love that ambiguity.—
Jake Angelo,
Fortune,
2 Apr. 2026
-
There’s little room for ambiguity.—
Dana Harris-Bridson,
IndieWire,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
What is exhausted is repetition without thought.—
Manuela Moscoso,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The repetition doesn’t conjure stasis so much as the struggle to find a way forward.—
Stephen Thomas Erlewine,
Pitchfork,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Christopher McVey was sent off late against Real Salt Lake after a second yellow card, which rules him out for Saturday and forces a lineup shuffle.—
Eddie Brown,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Then again, with a market cap of about $405 billion, last week’s audience-deficiency shuffle isn’t about to send Netflix to the poorhouse.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Where the equivocation began was in conversations with European diplomats and officials.—
Jason D. Greenblatt,
semafor.com,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Trump’s equivocation yesterday may be his attempt to steady an economy shaken by the war.—
David A. Graham,
The Atlantic,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Flatulent describes inflated, pretentious writing; garrulity describes excessive talkativeness.—
Gary Gilson,
Star Tribune,
31 Oct. 2020
Noun
-
The previous record-holder was President Clinton, famously known for his Southern-twang verbosity.—
Seema Mehta,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2026
-
This working prompt injection came only after much trial and error, explaining the verbosity and the detail in it.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
18 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Trump himself appeared to acknowledge a diffusion of power in Iran as a result of the American-Israeli assassination campaign.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Three criteria − depth, diffusion, and duration – need to be met individually to some degree to formally identify a recession, according to the NBER.—
Rachel Barber,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Just as the limitless space of web text tempts writers to indulge their logorrhea, the blinking, ever-transmuting, cartoonish interface of web browsers prevents would-be readers from paying attention to anything for longer than about 7 seconds.—
Barton Swaim,
WSJ,
19 Sep. 2022
-
Nor has Musk kept his Twitter logorrhea in check in other respects.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Circumlocution.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumlocution. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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