noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˌsɜːkəmləˈkjuːʃən/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˌsɝkəmləˈkjuʃən/
rhymes with -uːʃən
1
noun
Meaning 1
A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; thus
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; thus:
Unnecessary use of extra words to express an idea, such as a pleonastic phrase (sometimes driven by an attempt at emphatic clarity) or a wordy substitution (the latter driven by euphemistic intent, pedagogic intent, or sometimes loquaciousness alone).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; thus:
Necessary use of a phrase to circumvent either a vocabulary fault (of speaker or listener) or a lexical gap, either monolingually or in translation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Examples
A technical word, such as hyperkalemia or hypoallergenic, can be glossed for general audiences with a circumlocution, such as "high potassium level" or "less likely to cause allergies" (respectively).
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
An instance of such usage; a roundabout expression, whether an inadvisable one or a necessary one.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
an indirect way of expressing something
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: indirect expression
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: evasion, equivocation
6
noun
Meaning 6
a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: periphrasis, ambage
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: verboseness, verbosity
History
Etymology
From Latin circumlocūtiō (“the act of speaking around; circumlocution, periphrasis”). By surface analysis, circum- (“around”) + locution (“talk”), thus "getting around (a problem) in speaking or writing". Probably a calque of Ancient Greek περίφρασις (períphrasis, “periphrasis”).
Across languages
Translations
42 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
увъртане
(uvǎrtane)
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Bulgarian:
заобикалки
(zaobikalki)
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Finnish:
kiertely
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Finnish:
jaarittelu
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Finnish:
pyörittely
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
French:
périphrase
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
French:
circonlocution
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
German:
Umschweife
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Greek:
περίφραση
(perífrasi)
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Greek:
πολυλογία
(polylogía)
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Hungarian:
köntörfalazás
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Hungarian:
kertelés
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Italian:
giro di parole
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Italian:
perifrasi
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Norwegian:
omsvøp
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Persian:
اطناب
(etnâb)
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Persian:
درازگویی
(derâz-guyi)
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Polish:
oględna wypowiedź
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Portuguese:
circunlocução
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Portuguese:
circunlóquio
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Spanish:
circunlocución
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Spanish:
rodeos
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Spanish:
ambages
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Spanish:
circunloquio
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Swedish:
omsvep
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Vietnamese:
giải ngữ
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking
Vietnamese:
ngữ giải thích
— roundabout or indirect way of speaking