Adjacent Words

Rhetoric definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RHET'ORIC, n. [Gr. from to speak, to flow. Eng. to read. The primary sense is to drive or send. See Read.]
1. The art of speaking with propriety, elegance and force.
2. The power of persuasion or attraction; that which allures or charms. We speak of the rhetoric of the tongue, and the rhetoric of the heart or eyes.
Sweet silent rhetoric of persuading eyes.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: using language effectively to please or persuade
2: high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation; "the grandiosity of his prose"; "an excessive ornateness of language" [syn: grandiosity, magniloquence, ornateness, grandiloquence, rhetoric]
3: loud and confused and empty talk; "mere rhetoric" [syn: palaver, hot air, empty words, empty talk, rhetoric]
4: study of the technique and rules for using language effectively (especially in public speaking)

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English rethorik, from Anglo-French rethorique, from Latin rhetorica, from Greek rh?torik?, literally, art of oratory, from feminine of rh?torikos of an orator, from rh?t?r orator, rhetorician, from eirein to say, speak — more at word Date: 14th century 1. the art of speaking or writing effectively: as a. the study of principles and rules of composition formulated by critics of ancient times b. the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion 2. a. skill in the effective use of speech b. a type or mode of language or speech; also insincere or grandiloquent language 3. verbal communication ; discourse

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing. 2 language designed to persuade or impress (often with an implication of insincerity or exaggeration etc.). Etymology: ME f. OF rethorique f. L rhetorica, -ice f. Gk rhetorike (tekhne) (art) of rhetoric (as RHETOR)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rhetoric Rhet"o*ric, n. [F. rh['e]torique, L. rhetorica, Gr. ???? (sc. ???), fr. ??? rhetorical, oratorical, fr. ??? orator, rhetorician; perhaps akin to E. word; cf. ??? to say.] 1. The art of composition; especially, elegant composition in prose. 2. Oratory; the art of speaking with propriety, elegance, and force. --Locke. 3. Hence, artificial eloquence; fine language or declamation without conviction or earnest feeling. 4. Fig. : The power of persuasion or attraction; that which allures or charms. Sweet, silent rhetoric of persuading eyes. --Daniel.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you refer to speech or writing as rhetoric, you disapprove of it because it is intended to convince and impress people but may not be sincere or honest. What is required is immediate action, not rhetoric... [disapproval] 2. Rhetoric is the skill or art of using language effectively. (FORMAL) ...the noble institutions of political life, such as political rhetoric, public office and public service.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Art of composition, art of discourse. 2. Oratory, elocution, eloquence, science of oratory. 3. Declamation, artificial eloquence. 4. Persuasion, attraction, allurement, charm.

Foolish Dictionary

Language in a dress suit.

Moby Thesaurus

Barnumism, affectation, articulateness, bedizenment, big talk, bluster, bombast, choice of words, command of language, command of words, composition, convolution, debating, declamation, demagogism, dialect, diction, effective style, elocution, eloquence, eloquent tongue, exaggeration, expression, expression of ideas, expressiveness, facundity, fashion, feeling for words, felicitousness, felicity, flashiness, flatulence, flatulency, forensics, form of speech, formulation, fulsomeness, fustian, garishness, gasconade, gaudiness, gift of expression, gift of gab, glibness, grace of expression, grammar, grandiloquence, grandioseness, grandiosity, graphicness, high-flown diction, highfalutin, homiletics, hot air, idiom, inflatedness, inflation, language, lecturing, lexiphanicism, literary style, locution, loftiness, long-windedness, luridness, magniloquence, manner, manner of speaking, mannerism, meaningfulness, mere rhetoric, meretriciousness, mode, mode of expression, oratory, orotundity, ostentation, ostentatious complexity, parlance, peculiarity, personal style, phrase, phraseology, phrasing, platform oratory, platitudinous ponderosity, polysyllabic profundity, pomposity, pompous prolixity, pompousness, pontification, pretension, pretentiousness, prolixity, prose run mad, public speaking, puffery, pyrotechnics, rabble-rousing, rant, rhapsody, rhetoricalness, rodomontade, sensationalism, sense of language, sententiousness, sesquipedality, showiness, silver tongue, slickness, smoothness, speaking, speech, speechcraft, speechification, speeching, speechmaking, stiltedness, strain, stump speaking, style, stylistic analysis, stylistics, swelling utterance, swollen phrase, swollenness, talk, tall talk, the grand style, the plain style, the sublime, tortuosity, tortuousness, trick, tumidity, tumidness, turgescence, turgidity, usage, use of words, usus loquendi, vein, verbiage, verbosity, vividness, way, windiness, wordage, wordcraft, wordiness, wording