as in speech
the art of speaking in public eloquently and effectively
the oft-told story that he practiced elocution by learning to speak with a mouth full of pebbles
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of elocution
Elizabeth—with her precise elocution, her terrifying and obvious sincerity—sounded like a woman on the brink of a great cosmic battle.
—
Emily Harnett, Harper's Magazine, 26 Apr. 2024
Rosetta was unusually anxious about public speaking, so she was given elocution lessons.
—Anita Gates, New York Times, 14 Oct. 2023
Would elocution stand a chance if it were formally reintroduced into the school curriculum today?
—Robert Klose, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 July 2023
From elocution lessons to highway signs to serenades, startup founders looking to raise money in the Covid-19 era are developing new strategies to sell themselves and their companies—which might be only an idea on paper—through a video chat app on their laptop.
—Heather Somerville, WSJ, 19 Sep. 2020
See All Example Sentences for elocution
Emily Harnett, Harper's Magazine, 26 Apr. 2024
Rosetta was unusually anxious about public speaking, so she was given elocution lessons.
—Anita Gates, New York Times, 14 Oct. 2023
Would elocution stand a chance if it were formally reintroduced into the school curriculum today?
—Robert Klose, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 July 2023
From elocution lessons to highway signs to serenades, startup founders looking to raise money in the Covid-19 era are developing new strategies to sell themselves and their companies—which might be only an idea on paper—through a video chat app on their laptop.
—Heather Somerville, WSJ, 19 Sep. 2020
See All Example Sentences for elocution
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elocution
Noun
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For Henry, liberty in the context of his speech meant breaking free from the oppression of British control.—
Cassandra Good,
Smithsonian Magazine,
21 Mar. 2025
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As these systems become more regularly integrated into health care, social service and legal settings, hallucinations in automatic speech recognition could lead to inaccurate clinical or legal outcomes that harm patients, criminal defendants or families in need of social support.—
Anna Choi,
The Conversation,
21 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Then with some of the most stirring words in American oratory, Kennedy told the students — and all of us — that individual courage can be a powerful force for good.—
John T. Shaw,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Feb. 2025
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Stevenson’s oratory magnetism was powerful enough to unite, at least for a couple of hours, these disparate and sometimes adversarial forces.—
Robert Salonga,
The Mercury News,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Trump’s election confirmed, to some on the Left, that the country really was as bad as some of their harshest rhetoric suggested.—
Alexander Nazaryan,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
21 Mar. 2025
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Too often, the concept of second chances consists of hollow rhetoric and hurtful stigma.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
21 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Employers want candidates who can easily mitigate conflicts, manage stakeholders and liaise with leads and existing clients to sell and upsell solutions confidently (this is where public speaking comes in).—
Rachel Wells,
Forbes,
19 Mar. 2025
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Trustees also took action at the meeting to increase public speaking time at school board meetings from 2 minutes to 3 minutes.—
Julie Gallant,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Elocution.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elocution. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
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