circumlocution
Roundabout way speaking
Circumlocution is the use of many words where fewer would do—talking around a subject rather than addressing it directly.
A bureaucrat who says "at this point in time" instead of "now" is using circumlocution.
The word can describe evasive speech meant to obscure, or simply a wordy, roundabout style: His circumlocutions made it impossible to pin down what he actually believed.
Tedious lengthiness in speech
- wordinessExcessive use of language
- long-windedExcessively wordy, tediously so
- verboseMore words than necessary
- ramblingLong-winded and unfocused
verbiage · loquacity · garrulity · pleonasm · redundancy · tautology · diffuseness · logorrhea
Avoiding by moving aside
- sidesteppingMoving aside to avoid
- avoidanceDeliberate keeping away
- hedgingNoncommittal maneuvering
- equivocationAmbiguous language avoiding commitment
prevarication · deflection · obfuscation · dissembling · misdirection · evasiveness · dancing around · beating around the bush
Circular junction for traffic
- obliqueAngled, not straightforward
- allusionIndirect reference to something
- implicationIndirect suggestion or consequence
- insinuationIndirect, usually negative suggestion
euphemism · hinting · innuendo · tangential · digression · talking in circles · long way around · meandering
Attorneys' technical jargon
- jargonSpecialized professional vocabulary
- officialesePompous administrative writing
- doublespeakDeliberately misleading language
- gobbledygookPretentious unintelligible language
boilerplate · red tape · fine print · terminology · corporatespeak · buzzwords · doubletalk · weasel words
Art of persuasive language
- oratoryFormal eloquent discourse
- eloquencePersuasive verbal grace
- sophistryDeceptive reasoning
- flourishTo grow vigorously
embellishment · grandiloquence · bombast · purple prose · ornate · flowery · florid · magniloquence
prolixity
Tedious lengthiness in speech
- wordinessExcessive use of language
- long-windedExcessively wordy, tediously so
- verboseMore words than necessary
rambling · verbiage · loquacity · garrulity · pleonasm · redundancy · tautology · diffuseness · logorrhea · expatiation
dodging
Avoiding by moving aside
- sidesteppingMoving aside to avoid
- avoidanceDeliberate keeping away
- hedgingNoncommittal maneuvering
equivocation · prevarication · deflection · obfuscation · dissembling · misdirection · evasiveness · dancing around · beating around the bush · skirting
roundabout
Circular junction for traffic
- obliqueAngled, not straightforward
- allusionIndirect reference to something
- implicationIndirect suggestion or consequence
insinuation · euphemism · hinting · innuendo · tangential · digression · talking in circles · long way around · meandering · veiled
legalese
Attorneys' technical jargon
- jargonSpecialized professional vocabulary
- officialesePompous administrative writing
- doublespeakDeliberately misleading language
gobbledygook · boilerplate · red tape · fine print · terminology · corporatespeak · buzzwords · doubletalk · weasel words · technical language
rhetoric
Art of persuasive language
flourish · embellishment · grandiloquence · bombast · purple prose · ornate · flowery · florid · magniloquence · high-flown
- evasionsno comment, dodge, deflection, hedging, equivocation
- indirecthint, detour, roundabout, evasive, veiled
- rhetoricrhetoric, persuasion, oratory, argumentation, debate
- bombastbombast, grandiloquence, magniloquence, pomposity, fustian
- euphemistictactful, polite, mild, delicate, indirect
- evasive languageequivocation, hedging, vagueness, doublespeak, weasel words
circumlocutiondirectness
Quality of being straightforward
straightforwardness · forthrightness · plainness · frankness · bluntness
circumlocutionbrevity
Shortness of expression
conciseness · terseness · succinctness · concision · pithiness