rhetoricians
Masters of eloquence
Rhetoricians are people skilled in rhetoric—the art of persuasive speaking and writing.
The term applies to those who study, teach, or practice rhetoric: Ancient rhetoricians like Aristotle shaped how we think about argument.
It can carry a faintly dismissive tone, suggesting someone more concerned with style than substance: The proposal was crafted by rhetoricians, not engineers.
Formal eloquent discourse
- elocutionFormal speaking skill
- fluencySmooth linguistic command
- dictionChoice of words
- articulateExpress clearly, or well-spoken
silver-tongued · grandiloquence · expressiveness · delivery · poise · enunciation · prose · verbosity
Collective moral character
- pathosPity-evoking quality
- logosBrand identification symbols
- sophistryDeceptive reasoning
- suasionUrging without force
argumentation · cogency · influence · convincing · inducement · propaganda · manipulation · appeal
Logical argument through opposition
- disputationFormal argumentative exchange
- refutationDisproving a statement
- rebuttalFormal response disputing claims
- forensicsScientific crime-scene analysis
polemics · contention · deliberation · thesis · antithesis · synthesis · cross-examination · eristic
Skilled public speaker
- sophistDeceptive rhetorical trickster
- logicianExpert in valid reasoning
- speechwriterComposes others' addresses
- advocatePublic cause supporter
polemicist · apologist · Aristotle · Cicero · Demosthenes · Burke · preacher · declaimer
Recurring narrative device
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- antithesisDirect opposite; contrasting juxtaposition
- chiasmusInverted parallel construction
- anaphoraRepeated opening words
epistrophe · hyperbole · litotes · metonymy · synecdoche · irony · apostrophe · zeugma
oratory
Formal eloquent discourse
articulate · silver-tongued · grandiloquence · expressiveness · delivery · poise · enunciation · prose · verbosity · locution
ethos
Collective moral character
suasion · argumentation · cogency · influence · convincing · inducement · propaganda · manipulation · appeal · exhortation
dialectic
Logical argument through opposition
- disputationFormal argumentative exchange
- refutationDisproving a statement
- rebuttalFormal response disputing claims
forensics · polemics · contention · deliberation · thesis · antithesis · synthesis · cross-examination · eristic · apologia
orator
Skilled public speaker
- sophistDeceptive rhetorical trickster
- logicianExpert in valid reasoning
- speechwriterComposes others' addresses
advocate · polemicist · apologist · Aristotle · Cicero · Demosthenes · Burke · preacher · declaimer · public speaker
trope
Recurring narrative device
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- antithesisDirect opposite; contrasting juxtaposition
- chiasmusInverted parallel construction
anaphora · epistrophe · hyperbole · litotes · metonymy · synecdoche · irony · apostrophe · zeugma · polysyndeton
- Greek writersHomer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes
- intelligentsiaintellectuals, professors, intelligentsia, academics, philosophers
- opinion makerspundits, commentators, columnists, editorialists, op-ed writers
- Oratorsorators, public speakers, speechmakers, Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass
- Dutch Golden AgeDutch Golden Age, Golden Age, Huygens, Cats, emblems
- medieval dramamystery plays, morality plays, passion plays, religious drama, religious plays
rhetoriciansmutes
Silences or softens
strong silent types · introverts · wallflowers · listeners · recluses
rhetoriciansempiricists
Philosophers favoring sensory knowledge
practitioners · doers · men of action · pragmatists · men of few words
rhetoriciansliteralists
Those reading without interpretation
straight talkers · logicians · mathematicians · reporters · chroniclers