rhetoricrhet‧o‧ric /ˈretərɪk/ ●○○ noun [uncountable] 
The speech was dismissed by some people as merely political rhetoric.rhetoric of the rhetoric of socialism2the art of speaking or writing to persuade or influence people
WORD ORIGINrhetoric
Origin:
1300-1400 Old French rethorique, from Latin, from Greek rhetorike, from rhetor ‘public speaker’, from eirein ‘to say, speak’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Don't try to fool us with all those facts and bureaucratic rhetoric.
- the rhetoric of campaigning politicians
- Emanuel Shinwell's rhetoric, and the arguments which Crosland himself had developed in his writing, could not be brushed aside.
- Gingrich, however, is loathe to give up the familiar anti-Washington rhetoric that proved so popular in recent campaigns.
- In an interesting discussion of varieties of egalitarianism, Plant attacks the rhetoric that links freedom only with consumer choice.
- Indeed, since the Dec. 24 election Mr Erbakan has been backpedaling on much of his campaign rhetoric.
- Mr Papandreou's Pasok, embittered and demoralised, remains unable to evolve from unreconstructed popularism and anti-right rhetoric.
- Pyongyang limited itself to rhetoric, and was cautious even in its comments about the dramatic developments in the South.
- The answer must be hope that things might just improve; that one day soon reality will match rhetoric.
- With the election just two weeks away, the rhetoric on both sides is building.
WORD SETS
acrostic, nounadapt, verballiteration, nounanagram, nounannual, nounanthology, nounantihero, nounapologia, nounappendix, nounassonance, nounauthorship, nounautobiography, nounballad, nounbard, nounbathos, nounbiography, nounblank verse, nounbowdlerize, verbburlesque, nouncaesura, nouncameo, nouncanon, nouncanto, nouncaricature, nounchapter, nouncharacterization, nouncitation, nounclimax, nounclimax, verbcoda, nouncollected, adjectiveconceit, nouncorpus, nouncouplet, nouncritique, noundactyl, noundeclamatory, adjectivedeconstruction, noundense, adjectivedevice, noundialogue, noundiarist, noundiction, noundigest, noundoggerel, noundraft, noundraft, verbdrama, noundub, nounelegy, nounending, nounepic, adjectiveepigram, nounepilogue, nounepistolary, adjectiveepitaph, nounessay, nounessayist, nouneulogy, nounexegesis, nounfable, nounfairy tale, nounfantasy, nounfiction, nounfictional, adjectivefirst edition, nounfirst person, nounflashback, nounflorid, adjectiveflowery, adjectivefolk, adjectiveforeword, nounformulaic, adjectivefree verse, nounghost story, nounGothic, adjectivegrandiloquent, adjectivehaiku, nounheroic, adjectiveheroic couplet, nounhexameter, nounhumorist, nounhyperbole, nouniamb, nouniambic pentameter, nounimage, nounimagery, nouninformal, adjectiveingénue, nouninstalment, nounirony, nounjournal, nounlay, nounlimerick, nounlit., literary, adjectiveliterature, nounlyric, adjectivelyric, nounlyrical, adjectivelyricism, nounman of letters, nounmanuscript, nounmetaphor, nounmetaphorical, adjectivemetre, nounmetrical, adjectivemonologue, nounnarrative, nounnarrator, nounnaturalism, nounnaturalistic, adjectivenom de plume, nounnovel, nounnovelist, nounnovella, nounnursery rhyme, nounode, nounonomatopoeia, nounpadding, nounpaean, nounparagraph, nounparaphrase, verbparaphrase, nounparenthetical, adjectivepassage, nounpathetic fallacy, nounpen name, nounpentameter, nounperiphrasis, nounperoration, nounpicaresque, adjectiveplaywright, nounplot, nounpoem, nounpoet, nounpoetess, nounpoetic, adjectivepoetic licence, nounpoet laureate, nounpoetry, nounpolemic, nounpolemical, adjectivepotboiler, nounprécis, nounpreface, nounprefatory, adjectiveprologue, nounprose, nounprosody, nounprotagonist, nounpseudonym, nounpulp, nounquatrain, nounquotation, nounquote, verbreading, nounrecite, verbrendition, nounrevise, verbrevision, nounrhetoric, nounrhyme, nounrhyme, verbromance, nounsaga, nounsatire, nounsatirist, nounscience fiction, nounscribbler, nounscript, nounself-portrait, nounSF, Shakespearean, adjectiveshort story, nounsimile, nounsoliloquy, nounsonnet, nounstanza, nounstilted, adjectivestory, nounstream of consciousness, nounstylist, nounsubplot, nounsubtitle, nounsuperhero, nounsurrealism, nounsurrealistic, adjectivesynopsis, nountailpiece, nountale, nountalking book, nountearjerker, nountext, nountextual, adjectivetexture, nountheme, nounthriller, nountitle, nountragedian, nountragedy, nountragic, adjectivetragicomedy, nountrope, nounturgid, adjectiveunabridged, adjectiveverse, nounvignette, nounvolume, nounweepy, nounwell-turned, adjectivewhodunit, nounwriter, nounwriter's block, nounyarn, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY The speech was dismissed by some people as merely political rhetoric.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
1language that is used to persuade or influence people, especially language that sounds impressive but is not actually sincere or useful: The speech was dismissed by some people as merely political rhetoric.· All the noise being made about the hostages at that time was just political rhetoric.· Coming in the midst of a presidential campaign, the air attack has generated the inevitable political rhetoric, bombast and pressure.· But how are we to cut through the political rhetoric to see what lies behind the disagreement?· All the political rhetoric about big government protecting the weak and the poor is coming into question as well.· This political rhetoric would lead one to suppose that the subsequent proposals would be of an equally clear political substance.· We should now cast aside all the political rhetoric of the campaign.· As democracy is, at present, the only permissible political rhetoric, the ruling class duly speaks its language.· Rome shocked me by flouting the conventional political rhetoric of environmentalists.
· In the ensuing campaign, Thorne, Jones and their supporters exploited populist rhetoric on the war.· Or are they simply reacting emotionally to finely crafted television commercials and populist rhetoric?· Newman was a master of populist medical rhetoric.
· Behind a veil of revolutionary rhetoric, the Council of People's Commissars suppressed the masses' striving for liberty.
The speech was dismissed by some people as merely political rhetoric.rhetoric of the rhetoric of socialism2the art of speaking or writing to persuade or influence people