roundabout and unnecessarily wordy; "had a preference for circumlocutious (or circumlocutory) rather than forthright expression"; "A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion,/ Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle/ With words and meanings."-T.S.Eliot; (`ambagious' is archaic)
Used in a Sentence
periphrastic
How to use periphrastic in a sentence. Example sentences and definitions for periphrastic.
Editorial note
That said, in a periphrastic language like English, those 382 words convey less meaning.
Examples2
Definitions1
Parts of speech1
Quick take
roundabout and unnecessarily wordy; "had a preference for circumlocutious (or circumlocutory) rather than forthright expression"; "A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion,/ Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle/ With words and meanings."-T.S.Eliot; (`ambagious' is archaic)
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of periphrastic gathered in one view.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for periphrastic.
adjective
roundabout and unnecessarily wordy; "had a preference for circumlocutious (or circumlocutory) rather than forthright expression"; "A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion,/ Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle/ With words and meanings."-T.S.Eliot; (`ambagious' is archaic)
See also: circumlocutious, circumlocutory, ambagious
Example sentences
That said, in a periphrastic language like English, those 382 words convey less meaning.
This seems like an arbitrary and peculiar way to define tense specifically to exclude periphrastic languages like English. If these are the rules by which we are arguing, the argument doesn't seem that interesting. By this argument colloquial French and German have no past tense because they use periphrastic constructions to expression this distinction.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use periphrastic in a sentence?
That said, in a periphrastic language like English, those 382 words convey less meaning.
What does periphrastic mean?
roundabout and unnecessarily wordy; "had a preference for circumlocutious (or circumlocutory) rather than forthright expression"; "A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion,/ Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle/ With words and meanings."-T.S.Eliot; (`ambagious' is archaic)
What part of speech is periphrastic?
periphrastic is commonly used as adjective.