What does circumlocution mean?
Circumlocution is the act of saying something in an unnecessarily long-winded or indirect way, typically to avoid giving a direct answer, conceal an awkward truth, or pad out speech with empty formality. The word comes from Latin roots meaning 'to speak around' — literally circling a point rather than arriving at it. In everyday use, circumlocution carries a mostly negative connotation: it suggests evasion, bureaucratic stalling, or pompous verbosity. It appears frequently in discussions of politics and officialdom, where speakers dodge direct questions with elaborate phrasing, and it was famously mocked by Charles Dickens in his portrait of the 'Circumlocution Office,' a fictional government department devoted to never getting anything done. A close relative is periphrasis, but periphrasis is a neutral rhetorical device, whereas circumlocution usually implies something is being deliberately dodged. Related adjectival forms are circumlocutory and circumlocutionary. Knowing the word gives you a precise label for a very common human habit: talking a great deal while communicating very little.
nounThe use of many words where fewer would suffice, especially in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive; an indirect, roundabout way of expressing something.
- The practice of using unnecessarily many words to express something, often to avoid stating it directly.
- An instance or expression that is roundabout or evasive in this way (e.g. a particular phrase used as a circumlocution).
"Rather than admit the project had failed, she resorted to circumlocution, describing it as 'at a transitional stage of strategic reassessment.'"
"The witness's answer was pure circumlocution: ten minutes of talk that never once touched on what actually happened."
"'Let me be clear' has become a familiar circumlocution for politicians preparing to say something they'd rather not say directly."
The plural refers to multiple instances or varieties of roundabout expression, e.g. different phrases used as evasions.
"The manual was riddled with circumlocutions, each one vaguer than the last."
Charles Dickens satirized circumlocution so memorably that he named an entire government office after it — the 'Circumlocution Office' in Little Dorrit, where officials perfected the art of saying nothing at length.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of circumlocution
Circumlocution derives from the Latin circumloqui, meaning 'to speak around,' formed from circum- ('around') plus loqui ('to speak'). It entered English in the early 16th century, borrowed via classical learning during the Renaissance period of Latinate vocabulary expansion. The circum- prefix also appears in words such as circumference, circumspect, circumvent, and circumnavigate, all sharing the sense of going around something.
Related word forms
How circumlocution is actually used
Circumlocution is a formal, literary word, most at home in essays, political commentary, and criticism of officious or evasive language. Its connotation is generally negative — implying evasiveness, pomposity, or bureaucratic stalling — though in rhetoric it can occasionally be neutral, simply describing indirect expression.
Easily confused with circumlocution
Periphrasis is a neutral rhetorical term for expressing an idea with more words than necessary (often for style or grammatical effect), while circumlocution usually carries a negative connotation of evasion or deliberate obscurity.