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periphrastic

Pronunciation: /ˌpɛrɪˈfrastɪk/
Definition of periphrastic

adjective

  • (of speech or writing) indirect and circumlocutory:the periphrastic nature of legal syntax
  • Grammar (of a case or tense) formed by a combination of words rather than by inflection (such as did go and of the people rather than went and the people’s).

Derivatives

periphrastically

adverb

Origin:

early 19th century: from Greek periphrastikos, from periphrazein 'declare in a roundabout way'

periphrastic in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of periphrastic in the US English dictionary
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