Periphrasis
Periphrasis is an indirect way of resorting to something by using several words instead of naming them directly in one word. It is widely known as 'circumlocution.' Periphrasis is frequently used in euphemisms like “passed away” instead of 'died' [Baldick, p. 189].
Periphrasis is a term applied in the grammatical description referring to using separate words rather than inflections to convey the same grammatical relationship. For example, in English, the comparison of adjectives includes both infections (for example, happier, happiest) and periphrasis (for example, happier, most happy) [Crystal, p. 358].
Periphrasis is a roundabout way of speaking or
writing by applying many words where a few words is enough. For example: “Her olfactory system is suffering from a temporary inconvenience” (in simple words, Her nose is blocked), or “I'm going to” instead of “I will” [Cuddon, p. 528].
The word periphrasis came from the Greek word periphrases (“talking around”). It is a stylistic device that is defined as the application of excessive and more extended words to transmit a meaning which could have been transmitted with a shorter word or in a few words. It is an indirect way of writing about something [LiteraryDevices].
Choosing a two-word description instead of the one-word equivalent (like “more lengthy” rather than “longer”) is called periphrasis [Vocabulary.com].
⠀ Chris Baldick. (2015). The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
⠀ Cuddon J.A. (2013). A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.
⠀ David Crystal. (2008). A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, 6th Edition. New-Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.
⠀ Periphrasis. LiteraryDevices. Retrieved from: https://literarydevices.net/periphrasis/.