Periphrastic

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ËŒpÉ›.ɹɪˈfɹæ.stik/
• Canada IPA: /ËŒpÉ›.ɹəˈfɹæ.stɪk/
• US IPA: /ËŒpÉ›.ɹəˈfɹæ.stɪk/
• Rhymes: -æstɪk

Origin

Borrowed from Ancient Greek περιφραστικός, from περίφρασις ("periphrasis").

Full definition of periphrastic

Adjective

1. Expressed in more words than are necessary.
• 1916, Martin Brown Ruud, An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in NorwayAs poetry it does not measure up to Aasen; as translation it is periphrastic, arbitrary, not at all faithful.
• 1940, T. S. Eliot, :"That was a way of putting it—not very satisfactory/ A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion/ Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle
  With words and meanings."
2. Indirect in naming an entity; circumlocutory.
• 1870, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Vril: The Power of the Coming RaceIn writing, they deem it irreverent to express the Supreme Being and in conversation they generally use a periphrastic epithet, such as the All-Good.
3. (grammar) Characterized by periphrasis.“The daughter of the man” may be used as a periphrastic synonym for “the man’s daughter”.

Related terms

• periphrase
• periphrasis
• periphrastic conjugation