Dictionary
List of exercises
Exercises by level
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
OK
Meaning of rhetorical in English
Pronunciation
/rəˈtɔrək(ə)l/
US accent
Your browser does not support the audio element.
How to pronounce rhetorical in American English, in context
▾
Use the controls below
to browse different examples of pronunciation.
UK accent
Your browser does not support the audio element.
How to pronounce rhetorical in British English, in context
▾
Use the controls below
to browse different examples of pronunciation.
Qualitative Adjective
rhetorical
Etymology
late Middle English (first used in the sense ‘eloquently expressed’): via Latin from Greek rhētorikos (from rhētor‘rhetor’) + -al
Definitions
1.
of or relating to rhetoric
Examples
« accepted two or three verbal and rhetorical changes I suggested- W.A.White »
« the rhetorical sin of the meaningless variation- Lewis Mumford »
2.
concerned with effect or style of writing and speaking
Examples
« a rhetorical question is one asked solely to produce an effect (especially to make an assertion) rather than to elicit a reply »
Synonyms
anapestic
anapaestic
bombastic
declamatory
large
orotund
tumid
turgid
flowery
ornate
forensic
grandiloquent
magniloquent
tall
oratorical
stylistic
embellished
empurpled
over-embellished
purple
poetic
poetical
Antonyms
unrhetorical
See also
fancy
figurative
formal