adjective 1.circumlocutory; roundabout.
2.Grammar. noting a construction of two or more words having the same syntactic function as an inflected
word, as
of Mr. Smith in
the son of Mr. Smith, which is equivalent to
Mr. Smith's in
Mr. Smith's son.
Origin: 1795–1805; <
Greek periphrastikós, derivative of
periphrázein to use periphrasis. See
peri-,
phrase,
-tic Related forms per·i·phras·ti·cal·ly, adverb
un·per·i·phras·tic, adjective
un·per·i·phras·ti·cal·ly, adverb