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Definition of periphrasis : See Periphrase.

Synonyms:

diffuseness, wordiness, redundance, ambiguity, circumlocution, ambage, indirect expression, tediousness, verbosity, evasion, tautology, redundancy, verbiage, pleonasm, prolixity, surplusage

Usage examples:

• All transitive verbs involve the notion of cause as activity, and would have to be replaced by some cumbrous periphrasis before this notion could be eliminated. - "Our Knowledge of the External World as a Field for Scientific Method in Philosophy", Bertrand Russell.
• To Stemm the matter had become so serious, that in speaking of books, papers, and documents he would have recourse to any periphrasis rather than mention in his master's hearing the name of the fallen angel. - "Ralph the Heir", Anthony Trollope.
• This fraternity is indeed so terrible in its nature, and in its manifest consequences, that there is no way of quieting our apprehensions about it, but by totally putting it out of sight, by substituting for it, through a sort of periphrasis, something of an ambiguous quality, and describing such a connexion under the terms of 'the usual relations of peace and amity. - "Political Pamphlets", George Saintsbury.