periphrastic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But it seems to this reader, Rebecca becoming Maud also speaks to the preoccupation of this entire book: the periphrastic construction of identity itself.

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2022

He misrepresents, distorts, bisects sentences and employs periphrastic phrases to make his points.

From Time Magazine Archive

"I won't press the analogy, but I will say that those who are themselves periphrastic should avoid criticising others for being ambaginous."

From The Inventions of the Idiot by Bangs, John Kendrick

They would have no unities, no arbitrary selection of subjects, no restraints on variety of versification, no academically limited vocabulary, no considerations of artificial beauty, and, above all, no periphrastic expression.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 2 "French Literature" to "Frost, William" by Various

In addition to the above inflected forms, there are many periphrastic or compound forms, made up of auxiliaries with the infinitives and participles.

From An English Grammar by Sewell, James Witt