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- Dictionaryperiphrastic/ˌpɛrɪˈfrastɪk/
adjective
- 1. (of speech or writing) indirect and circumlocutory: "the periphrastic nature of legal syntax"
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The meaning of PERIPHRASTIC is of, relating to, or characterized by periphrasis. How to use periphrastic in a sentence.
1. employing or involving periphrasis. 2. expressed in two or more words rather than by an inflected form of one: used esp of a tense of a verb where the alternative element is an auxiliary verb. For example, He does go and He will go involve periphrastic tenses. Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers. Derived forms.
expressed in two or more words rather than by an inflected form of one: used esp of a tense of a verb where the alternative element is an auxiliary verb. For example, He does go and He will go involve periphrastic tenses
Nov 18, 2019 · In English grammar, a periphrastic construction (pronounced per-eh-FRAS-tik) is one in which an independent word or multi-word expression has the same role as an inflection, such as the use of the auxiliary will with another verb to form the future tense .
In linguistics and literature, periphrasis ( / pəˈrɪfrəsɪs /) [1] is the use of a larger number of words, with an implicit comparison to the possibility of using fewer. The comparison may be within a language or between languages.
Periphrastic writing is unnecessarily convoluted, confusing, and wordy. It’s like it wants to confuse you. A periphrastic instruction manual can make it nearly impossible to figure out how your new TV works.
Definition of periphrastic adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
adj. 1. employing or involving periphrasis. 2. (Grammar) expressed in two or more words rather than by an inflected form of one: used esp of a tense of a verb where the alternative element is an auxiliary verb. For example, He does go and He will go involve periphrastic tenses. ˌperiˈphrastically adv.
Periphrastic Definition. pĕrə-frăstĭk. Meanings. Synonyms. Sentences. Definition Source. Origin. Adjective. Filter. adjective. Of, like, or expressed in periphrasis. Webster's New World. Similar definitions. Formed with a particle or an auxiliary verb instead of by inflection (Ex.: the phrase did sing used for the inflected form sang)
A roundabout way of referring to something by means of several words instead of naming it directly in a single word or phrase. Commonly known as ‘circumlocution’, periphrasis is often used in euphemisms like passed away for ‘died’, but can have a more emphatic effect in poetry, as in the use of kennings.
