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   rhetorical

   /rɪˈtɒrɪkl/

   adjective

   • 1. relating to or concerned with the art of rhetoric: "repetition is a common rhetorical device" Similar stylisticoratoricallinguisticverbal
   • ▪ expressed in terms intended to persuade or impress: "the rhetorical commitment of the government to give priority to primary education" Similar extravagantgrandiloquentmagniloquenthigh-flownhigh-soundingsonorousloftyorotundbombasticgrandiosepompouspretentiousoverblownoverripeoratoricalturgidfloweryfloriddeclamatoryCiceronianinformal:highfalutinrare:tumidepideicticfustianeuphuisticaureateDemosthenicDemosthenean
   • 2. (of a question) asked in order to produce an effect or to make a statement rather than to elicit information: "the general intended his question to be purely rhetorical"

   Word Origin late Middle English (first used in the sense ‘eloquently expressed’): via Latin from Greek rhētorikos (from rhētor ‘rhetor’) + -al.

   Scrabble Points: 15

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