periphrastic

 
Pronunciation: /ˌpɛrɪˈfrastɪk/

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'