variants
also rhetoric
1
as in oratorical
marked by the use of impressive-sounding but mostly meaningless words and phrases
you can skip over the rhetorical passages and still get the gist of the essay
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ornate
full of fine words and fancy expressions
the new governor delivered a long rhetorical speech about our state's bright future but laid out no specific programs for ensuring it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in linguistic
of or relating to words or language
the next war that those two nations fight won't be rhetorical—it will be with bombs and bullets
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rhetorical
The invocation of self-evident truths and inherent rights is a warrant for the destruction of existing order, a rhetorical erasure not only of the divine right of kings but also, more generally, of the prerogatives of power.
—
New York Times,
9 June 2026
The song had grown out of a bloody domestic conflict, but later in the century its rhetorical force appealed to those with foreign ambitions.
—
Jake Lundberg,
The Atlantic,
8 June 2026
For weeks, this remained a rhetorical position, but [Sunday] Tehran attached a cost to it.
—
Scott Peterson,
Christian Science Monitor,
8 June 2026
There has never quite been a critical or scholarly consensus about them, but Bellini, whose music is suspended somewhere between Rossini’s precise brilliance and Donizetti’s rhetorical force, can move audiences with his melodic facility.
—
Arya Roshanian,
The New York Review of Books,
6 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for rhetorical
New York Times,
9 June 2026
The song had grown out of a bloody domestic conflict, but later in the century its rhetorical force appealed to those with foreign ambitions.
—
Jake Lundberg,
The Atlantic,
8 June 2026
For weeks, this remained a rhetorical position, but [Sunday] Tehran attached a cost to it.
—
Scott Peterson,
Christian Science Monitor,
8 June 2026
There has never quite been a critical or scholarly consensus about them, but Bellini, whose music is suspended somewhere between Rossini’s precise brilliance and Donizetti’s rhetorical force, can move audiences with his melodic facility.
—
Arya Roshanian,
The New York Review of Books,
6 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for rhetorical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rhetorical
Adjective
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That wasn’t Newsom’s only oratorical slip-up, although the second one says more about the larger Democratic Party than anything else.
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With his height and his oratorical flourishes, Jackson was a charismatic figure who led protests in Greensboro.
Adjective
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The ornate dress hit just above the ankle, revealing a pair of metallic gold pumps with a lustrous finish.
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Opened in 1901, the ornate behemoth in Center City, built in the style of the Second Empire, remains a showstopper today.
Adjective
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Learning the Indonesian language, Bahasa Indonesia, is also part of the French team’s program, as linguistic proximity has already proven effective with other international partners.
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That his language was English and not American was the cause of ample anxiety for a linguistic nationalist like Webster, no less than my own as evidenced in my rejoinders to a bartender at the Boot Pub more than two centuries later.
Adjective
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Leo opened his visit to Pompeii by meeting with sick and disabled people who are cared for by a charity center affiliated with the sanctuary, which Leo’s namesake, Pope Leo XIII, declared a pontifical basilica in 1901.
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That public spat has overshadowed his pontifical tour of four African countries, which ended Thursday with a Mass for thousands of people in Malabo, the former capital of Equatorial Guinea.
Adjective
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In the second year, a hollow stalk with purple spots grows 5 to 10 feet tall.
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Then there was Felix Olivero, wearing a purple Argentina jersey and matching hat, leaning on his crutches under the hot sun on the scorching blacktop of a Hard Rock parking lot.
Adjective
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Ro said interactive chatbots have technological hurdles to overcome, such as a mismatch between their verbal comments and their facial expressions.
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According to the preliminary investigation, a woman and Diguglielmo got into a verbal fight over a parking space, BSO said.
Adjective
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Simón, who undertook a similar odyssey at the same age, never allows this delicate story to succumb to self-indulgence or an inflated sense of its own importance.
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As Jackson County legislators consider whether to implement a tax credit program to homeowners who paid inflated property tax bills in 2023, county homeowners and organizations are split on who should bear the cost.
Adjective
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There was Coppola’s over-the-top defense of his friend with a grandiloquent gesture (Tanen declined to sell).
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Reform—Within Reason Malthus aimed to puncture Godwin’s grandiloquent progressivism.
Cite this Entry
“Rhetorical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rhetorical. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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