circumlocution
noun
[ ˌsəːkəmləˈkjuːʃ(ə)n ]
• the use of many words where fewer would do, especially in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive.
• "his admission came after years of circumlocution"
Similar:
periphrasis,
circuitousness,
indirectness,
tautology,
repetition,
repetitiveness,
repetitiousness,
diffuseness,
discursiveness,
long-windedness,
verbosity,
wordiness,
prolixity,
verbiage,
redundancy,
superfluity,
euphemism,
beating about the bush,
pleonasm,
perissology,
Origin:
late Middle English: from Latin circumlocutio(n- ) (translating Greek periphrasis ), from circum ‘around’ + locutio(n- ) from loqui ‘speak’.
