1
as in wind
language that is impressive-sounding but not meaningful or sincere
the mayor's promise to fight drugs was just rhetoric, since there was no money in the city budget for a drug program
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in poetry
the art or power of speaking or writing in a forceful and convincing way
great leaders have often been masters of rhetoric, which they have used for both good and ill
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rhetoric
Experts say that's largely because of rising anti-Trump sentiment and a lack of confidence that Poilievre — a populist whose rhetoric has drawn comparisons to Trump — will stand up to him.
—
Rachel Treisman, NPR, 10 Mar. 2025
In an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., voiced concerns over lawmakers' rhetoric about Musk.
—Alexandra Koch, Fox News, 9 Mar. 2025
Airfares and hotel rates aside, the posturing and rhetoric have already turned off some prospective travelers, especially in Canada.
—Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2025
Typically, the argument goes that all Trump’s lying and disinformation, met with righteous scolding from liberals, has led to mass desensitization, over everything from Trump’s thirty-four felony convictions to his racist rhetoric.
—Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rhetoric
Rachel Treisman, NPR, 10 Mar. 2025
In an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., voiced concerns over lawmakers' rhetoric about Musk.
—Alexandra Koch, Fox News, 9 Mar. 2025
Airfares and hotel rates aside, the posturing and rhetoric have already turned off some prospective travelers, especially in Canada.
—Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2025
Typically, the argument goes that all Trump’s lying and disinformation, met with righteous scolding from liberals, has led to mass desensitization, over everything from Trump’s thirty-four felony convictions to his racist rhetoric.
—Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rhetoric
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rhetoric
Noun
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For Lake Tahoe: southwest winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 50 mph.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacramento Bee,
15 Mar. 2025
-
Due to the previously dry conditions in states like Texas and Oklahoma, strong wind gusts resulted in wild fires in the Southern Plains, leading to the evacuation of some communities in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and New Mexico, the Associated Press reported.—
Daniel Kreps,
Rolling Stone,
15 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Much of Abdullah’s work draws inspiration from the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, capturing surreal, dreamlike scenes in which her figures go about their lives in flooding rooms, already ankle-deep.—
Omnia Saed,
ARTnews.com,
17 Mar. 2025
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Or the enduring image of the left fielder swooping two rows into the stands in Chicago for a catch, and the poetry of him throwing out 102 runners who shouldn’t have dared him.—
Vahe Gregorian,
Kansas City Star,
16 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Describing the plot as utter nonsense would both be 100 percent correct and likely taken as a massive compliment for all involved.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
7 Mar. 2025
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For Guy, using systems like Kibbe’s to guide your dress choices can mean making nonsense out of your clothes’ cultural grammar, especially in the rigidly codified world of menswear.—
Constance Grady,
Vox,
6 Mar. 2025
Noun
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However, some people report mild side effects like gas and bloating, which often go away with time.1 In rare cases, probiotics can cause blood infections.—
Lindsey DeSoto,
Health,
10 Mar. 2025
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These objects are thought to form like stars when dense patches in vast clouds of gas and dust collapse.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
10 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The organization supports top Houston jazz and fine arts institutions, so that jazz’s next generation has the tools to keep the tradition alive.—
Ethan Stone,
USA TODAY,
7 Mar. 2025
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Two examples would be the great jazz drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and the terrific banjo player Allison Brown, who is a La Jolla High School alum.—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 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 is a man whose bombast, sweeping actions, and slashing pronouncements accentuate his expansive instinctual drive.—
Robert W. Merry,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
7 Mar. 2025
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Carr wanted to bring Broadway verve and Vegas bombast to the Academy Awards, but the stunned looks on the faces of front-row nominees who were getting glad-handed by a Disney princess indicated that Carr’s vision was an immediate catastrophe.—
Zach Schonfeld,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Much of that singularity was centered in McCarthy’s prose, which ricocheted—sometimes gracefully, sometimes jarringly—between gruff matter-of-factness and soaring, biblical grandiloquence.—
Alex Shephard,
The New Republic,
13 June 2023
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Several of them can fly, and all have at least a touch of grandiloquence to them.—
Michael Nordine,
Variety,
11 Aug. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Rhetoric.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rhetoric. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.
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