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
Newsom, finishing his final term, quickly reoriented his rhetoric to focus more on economic issues after the election, and Democrats leading the California Legislature declared that affordability is their focus during the two-year legislative session.
—
Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2025
In the first quarter, the company was hit with waves of protests, boycotts and some criminal activity that targeted Tesla vehicles and facilities in response to Musk’s political rhetoric and his work as part of President Donald Trump’s second administration.
—Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 2 Apr. 2025
That hopeful rhetoric has surfaced in rather a counterintuitive way.
—Sonja Drimmer, Artforum, 1 Apr. 2025
President Trump’s rhetoric runs counter to this history.
—Alex Gangitano, The Hill, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rhetoric
Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2025
In the first quarter, the company was hit with waves of protests, boycotts and some criminal activity that targeted Tesla vehicles and facilities in response to Musk’s political rhetoric and his work as part of President Donald Trump’s second administration.
—Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 2 Apr. 2025
That hopeful rhetoric has surfaced in rather a counterintuitive way.
—Sonja Drimmer, Artforum, 1 Apr. 2025
President Trump’s rhetoric runs counter to this history.
—Alex Gangitano, The Hill, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rhetoric
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rhetoric
Noun
-
The Getty fire in 2019, which led to evacuation orders, could have easily gotten out of hand had winds been any higher.—
Robert Petkoff Krish Seenivasan Quinton Kamara,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2025
-
The storms are anticipated to bring wind gusts of up to 60 mph and penny-sized hail (0.75 inches).—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Wesley Viner, associate curator at the museum, told Fox News Digital the letter is part of an ongoing correspondence about the nature of poetry, knowledge and Christianity.—
Ashley J. DiMella Fox News,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2025
-
Writers used to inherently understand the value of a good story and inject poetry and cosmic musing into their baseball writing… Sheesh, make baseball human again.—
Levi Weaver,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2025
Noun
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But when real users interact with it, the system collapses, generating nonsense or failing to handle inputs that deviate from the demo script.—
Albert Lie,
Forbes.com,
4 Apr. 2025
-
Slapping down Putin should mean something, but that pronouncement, like everything Trump utters, is undercut by him spouting nonsense, including about a third term, which his press secretary laughed off yesterday.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Diversified 210 billionaires | 7% of list Richest: Mukesh Ambani ($92.5 billion), chairman of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, which holds interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, retail, telecommunications, media and financial services.—
Grace Thomas,
Forbes.com,
3 Apr. 2025
-
The majority is metabolized by colon bacteria, which produce gases.—
Merve Ceylan,
Health,
3 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Light jazz played from unseen speakers in a grassy landscape ribboned with walkways and dotted with drought-tolerant shrubbery.—
Daniel Miller,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2025
-
Airport pianist Josh King finds his main character energy Josh King, the 24-year-old airport pianist who squeaked by with two yeses after the judges pushed him outside his jazz lounge comfort zone, had something to prove during Hollywood Week.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
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
-
Trump is enacting Project 2025 nearly to the letter, deploying executive orders, lawsuits, and rhetorical bombast in an effort to force judges, law firms, cultural institutions, university presidents, and press barons into postures of pitiable obedience.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2025
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In typical Nintendo fashion, the teaser video is stripped down, featuring no audio or bombast.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
28 Mar. 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 13 Apr. 2025.
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