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rhetoric

   Also found in: Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
rhet·o·ric  (rtr-k)
n.
1.
a. The art or study of using language effectively and persuasively.
b. A treatise or book discussing this art.
2. Skill in using language effectively and persuasively.
3.
a. A style of speaking or writing, especially the language of a particular subject: fiery political rhetoric.
b. Language that is elaborate, pretentious, insincere, or intellectually vacuous: His offers of compromise were mere rhetoric.
4. Verbal communication; discourse.

[Middle English rethorik, from Old French rethorique, from Latin rhtoric, rhtorica, from Greek rhtorik (tekhn), rhetorical (art), feminine of rhtorikos, rhetorical, from rhtr, rhetor; see rhetor.]

rhetoric [ˈrɛtərɪk]
n
1. (Literature / Rhetoric) the study of the technique of using language effectively
2. (Literature / Rhetoric) the art of using speech to persuade, influence, or please; oratory
3. excessive use of ornamentation and contrivance in spoken or written discourse; bombast
4. speech or discourse that pretends to significance but lacks true meaning all the politician says is mere rhetoric
[via Latin from Greek rhētorikē (tekhnē) (the art of) rhetoric, from rhētōr rhetor]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.rhetoric - using language effectively to please or persuade
expressive style, style - a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period; "all the reporters were expected to adopt the style of the newspaper"
rhetorical device - a use of language that creates a literary effect (but often without regard for literal significance)
2.rhetoric - high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation; "the grandiosity of his prose"; "an excessive ornateness of language"
flourish - a display of ornamental speech or language
expressive style, style - a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period; "all the reporters were expected to adopt the style of the newspaper"
blah, bombast, claptrap, fustian, rant - pompous or pretentious talk or writing
3.rhetoric - loud and confused and empty talk; "mere rhetoric"
hokum, meaninglessness, nonsense, nonsensicality, bunk - a message that seems to convey no meaning
4.rhetoric - study of the technique and rules for using language effectively (especially in public speaking)
literary study - the humanistic study of literature
exordium - (rhetoric) the introductory section of an oration or discourse
narration - (rhetoric) the second section of an oration in which the facts are set forth
peroration - (rhetoric) the concluding section of an oration; "he summarized his main points in his peroration"
rhetorical device - a use of language that creates a literary effect (but often without regard for literal significance)
epanodos - repetition of a group of words in reverse order
epanodos - recapitulation of the main ideas of a speech (especially in reverse order)
ploce - (rhetoric) repetition to gain special emphasis or extend meaning
allocution - (rhetoric) a formal or authoritative address that advises or exhorts
anacoluthic - of or related to syntactic inconsistencies of the sort known as anacoluthons

rhetoric
noun
1. hyperbole, rant, hot air (informal), pomposity, bombast, wordiness, verbosity, fustian, grandiloquence, magniloquence He has continued his warlike rhetoric.
2. oratory, eloquence, public speaking, speech-making, elocution, declamation, speechifying, grandiloquence, spieling (informal) the noble institutions, such as political rhetoric
Translations
rhetoric [ˈretərɪk] Nretórica f
rhetoric [ˈrɛtərɪk] nrhétorique f
rhetoric
nRhetorik f; (pej)Phrasendrescherei f (pej)
rhetoric [ˈrɛtərɪk] nretorica
rhetoric [ˈrɛtərɪk] nretorica


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend.
Three days, at white heat, completed his narrative; but when he had copied it carefully, in a large scrawl that was easy to read, he learned from a rhetoric he picked up in the library that there were such things as paragraphs and quotation marks.
In vivid contrast to the sad and terrible destiny of the king imprisoned in the Bastile, and tearing, in sheer despair, the bolts and bars of his dungeon, the rhetoric of the chroniclers of old would not fail to present, as a complete antithesis, the picture of Philippe lying asleep beneath the royal canopy.
 
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