rhetoric

noun

rhet·o·ric ˈre-tə-rik

Synonyms of rhetoric next

: the art of speaking or writing effectively: such as

: the study of principles and rules of composition formulated by critics of ancient times

: the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion

: skill in the effective use of speech

: a type or mode of language or speech

also : insincere or grandiloquent language

: verbal communication : discourse

Examples of rhetoric in a Sentence

The media almost never discuss what the sweeping dismantling of public services inherent in the rhetoric of the antigovernment movement would mean in practice. —

E. J. Dionne, Jr., Commonweal, 20 Nov. 2009

What they are in reality are the romantic words of a man who needs glorious rhetoric to cover up murderous reality. —

Pete Hamill, Cosmopolitan, April 1976

No speech could have been more thoroughly honest in its intention: the frigid rhetoric at the end was as sincere as the bark of a dog, or the cawing of an amorous rook. —

George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1872

Otherwise he might have been a great general, blowing up all sorts of towns, or he might have been a great politician, dealing in all sorts of parliamentary rhetoric; but as it was, he and the Court of Chancery had fallen upon each other in the pleasantest way, and nobody was much the worse … —

Charles Dickens, Bleak House, 1852-53

a college course in rhetoric the mayor's promise to fight drugs was just rhetoric, since there was no money in the city budget for a drug program See More

Recent Examples on the Web And its message — advocating for book bans, and, watchdogs say, promoting hateful rhetoric about the LGBTQ community — has begun to take hold across the country, with hundreds of chapters spanning nearly every state. —

Emma Platoff, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Sep. 2023 Related:Elections, indictments, whistleblowers: timeline leading up to Paxton’s impeachment trial Such rhetoric would not be the focus of most court trials. —

Gromer Jeffers Jr., Dallas News, 8 Sep. 2023 The obsessive focus on mothers and/or women who choose not to become mothers marks a sharp deviation from right-wing rhetoric over the past two years. —

Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 6 Sep. 2023 But as Wolf’s rhetoric escalated in 2021, Klein paid closer attention. —

Laura Marsh, The New Republic, 5 Sep. 2023 But for all the candidates’ big rhetoric about the war on drugs — either ending it or escalating it — few of their stump speeches make any mention at all of addiction treatment. —

Lev Facher, STAT, 5 Sep. 2023 Jassy reportedly reiterated a rhetoric that has emerged in more recent months: Don’t comply with return to office, face the consequences. —

Byeleanor Pringle, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2023 Vaccine Food & Drug Administration, May 5, 2022, Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Limits Use of Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine to Certain Individuals Department of Health & Human Services, accessed Aug. 21, VAERS Data Detroit Free Press, Aug. 21, Michigan teen’s death fueled anti-vaccine rhetoric. —

Nate Trela, USA TODAY, 29 Aug. 2023 Political violence has been steadily increasing in recent years, and it can be directly traced back to this kind of rhetoric. —

Tori Otten, The New Republic, 30 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rhetoric.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English rethorik, from Anglo-French rethorique, from Latin rhetorica, from Greek rhētorikē, literally, art of oratory, from feminine of rhētorikos of an orator, from rhētōr orator, rhetorician, from eirein to say, speak — more at word

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of rhetoric was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century