verbalism
/ˈvəːb(ə)lɪz(ə)m
/noun [mass noun]
1Concentration on forms of expression rather than content: verbalism means thinking of the words instead of with them...
- We're still trapped in the tradition of verbalism which changed with the Renaissance - teaching everything with words.
- To call it verbalism seems to degrade intellectual detachment to stylistic trickery but the facts are complex.
1.1 [count noun] A verbal expression: a dying Church with its empty verbalisms and denatured ceremonies...
- Be alert to use of verbalisms and echolalia and consult with a speech/language therapist when in doubt.
- When they reported on the outdoor explorations, the children hardly ever used adult terms or verbalisms.
- Our experienced moderators record spontaneous verbalisms, comments, assessments and mind statements of the test persons.
1.2Excessive or empty use of language: there was a deal of verbalism...
- The temptation is great to suspect that Hugo is here indulging in mere verbalism.
- Mufti Sahib sacrifices the action part of Dialogue in his speeches, thereby making a mere verbalism.
Derivatives
verbalist
- You will not be disappointed by the lead singer and visceral verbalist blooming like the mesmeric rocker he is.
- We also need adults who are expert verbalists, such as Ph.D. educators in English, Psychology, and History.
- An amusing game for verbalists, in which one or more persons try to unscramble words scrambled by the computer.
verbalistic
- Engineering is driving verbalistic philosophy out of existence and humanity gains decidedly thereby.
- Perec's greatest verbalistic missile is a lipogram - a composition that completely omits one letter of the alphabet.
- They also have a more animalistic growl than the original's verbalistic grunting.