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  1. circumlocutory love

Definitions

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Exhibiting circumlocution; periphrastic.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Characterised by circumlocution; periphrastic.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Characterised by circumlocution; periphrastic.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. roundabout and unnecessarily wordy

Examples

  • “The challenge for the novice was to spot the bogus stuff, but Mikey deliberately made it harder by being coy and circumlocutory about genuine matters too.”

    Fictionaut: It's October, 1956.

  • “The tautological, circumlocutory argument of American Exceptionalism can be stated thusly: “We are on a providentially inspired mission and are guided by a ‘Higher Power’, therefore whatever our actions or policies, we cannot be in the wrong.””

    American Exceptionalism

  • “Which brings me, by a circumlocutory route to be sure, to some recent eruptions about yours truly by that petulant chihuahua Kathy Shaidle.”

    Archive 2008-05-01

  • “The rest of us, who find her circumlocutory speech patterns as abrasive as nails on a blackboard, are doomed to a future of listening to her butcher the English language.”

    CNN Transcript Dec 3, 2008

  • “But when I came to praise a faux professor of circumlocutory nonsense had razed the image immaculate – leaving a specious burst of wretched toadying.”

    Silence As Magnanimous Respect

  • ““I have the distinct pleasure …,” he began in his droll, circumlocutory, Austrian-sounding speech.”

    Kipnis and Perel: A Literary Submission

  • “He tells us in his circumlocutory way that he is not a licensed architect—he dropped out during a family emergency and never completed his degree—but has designed and built many homes in the area.”

    Simon & Schuster: Gringos in Paradise

  • “Multimillion dollar bids, tax troubles in Japan and some circumlocutory matchmaking for celebrity supermodel Kate Moss--that's how the venturous Virgin Group boss Sir Richard Branson saw in the new year.”

    Forbes: U.K. Faces Of The Week, Jan. 2-6

  • “Multimillion dollar bids, tax troubles in Japan and some circumlocutory matchmaking for celebrity supermodel Kate Moss--it's only how the venturous Virgin Group boss Sir Richard Branson is seeing in the new year.”

    Forbes: Richard Branson's Busy Start To 2006

  • “On Sunday, I noted First Things editor Richard John Neuhaus's circumlocutory expression of unsurprise at the forced resignation of America editor Thomas Reese: It would be fair to say that during the pontificate of John Paul II that America apparently saw itself or at least certainly read as a magazine of what some would describe as the loyal opposition.”

    Philocrites: May 2005 Archives

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‘circumlocutory’ has been looked up 1527 times, added to 16 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 22.