different between circuitous vs circumlocution

English

Etymology

First attested in 1664. From Latin circuit?sus, from circuitus, from circume? (“I go around”), from circum (“around”) + e? (“I go”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /s???kju??t?s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /s??kju??t?s/, /s??kju??t?s/

Adjective

circuitous (comparative more circuitous, superlative most circuitous)

1. Not direct or to the point.
2. Of a long and winding route.

Synonyms

• (not direct): indirect, roundabout
• (of a winding route): roundabout, tortuous

Derived terms

• circuitously
• circuitousness
• uncircuitous

Translations

English

Etymology

From Latin circumloc?ti? (“the act of speaking around; circumlocution, periphrasis”). Surface analysis circum- (“around”) +? locution (“talk”), thus "getting around (a problem) in speaking or writing". Probably a calque of Ancient Greek ?????????? (períphrasis, “periphrasis”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s??k?ml??kju???n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s?k?ml??kju??n/
• Rhymes: -u???n
• Hyphenation: cir?cum?lo?cu?tion

Noun

circumlocution (countable and uncountable, plural circumlocutions)

1. (uncountable) A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; thus:
   1. (uncountable) 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).
   2. (uncountable) Necessary use of a phrase to circumvent either a vocabulary fault (of speaker or listener) or a lexical gap, either monolingually or in translation.

2. (countable) An instance of such usage; a roundabout expression, whether an inadvisable one or a necessary one.

Synonyms

• periphrasis
• ambages

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• beat around the bush
• go around the houses
• euphemism
• mince words, mince matters
• equivocation (the use of expressions susceptible of a double signification, possibly intentionally and with the aim of misleading)
• evasive (tending to avoid speaking openly or making revelations about oneself)
• prevarication (evasion of the truth; deceit, evasiveness)
• hedge (to avoid verbal commitment)
• waffle (to speak or write vaguely and evasively; to speak or write at length without any clear point or aim)