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
Relevance
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
Examples Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rhetoric
There’s no objective rubric for beautiful poetry, persuasive rhetoric, or emotional empathy with which to train the model.
—
Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2024
His rhetoric on Israel and immigration also often sounds more in tune with Republicans than with some of the more progressive factions in his own party.
—Emily Hallas, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 6 Dec. 2024
Passage of the lid bills was a sign of the hollowness of Wallace’s populist rhetoric.
—Brucie Porter / Made By History, TIME, 5 Dec. 2024
However, their early rhetoric is setting an antagonistic tone toward federal workers, which threatens to undermine DOGE’s goals.
—James Broughel, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for rhetoric 
Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2024
His rhetoric on Israel and immigration also often sounds more in tune with Republicans than with some of the more progressive factions in his own party.
—Emily Hallas, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 6 Dec. 2024
Passage of the lid bills was a sign of the hollowness of Wallace’s populist rhetoric.
—Brucie Porter / Made By History, TIME, 5 Dec. 2024
However, their early rhetoric is setting an antagonistic tone toward federal workers, which threatens to undermine DOGE’s goals.
—James Broughel, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for rhetoric
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rhetoric
Noun
-
Severe lightning, torrential rain and 70-mph winds sent the frenzied sellout crowd of 90,000 at Memorial Stadium scampering for cover.Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel, 14 Dec. 2024
-
Place your mini greenhouses in a sunny spot that’s protected from strong winds and only water them if the soil dries out.Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
This is not a proclamation of the obvious, namely that pop is the opposite of poetry.Jennifer Harlan, New York Times, 13 Dec. 2024
-
Kwanzaa celebrations vary, but typically include lighting candles, one per night; placing meaningful items on a traditional woven mat on tables; sharing meals and a karamu feast; poetry; dance and music, according to the Official Kwanzaa website.Jenna Prestininzi, Detroit Free Press, 12 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
The art world, like the artwork itself, exists in a delicate balance of elitism and absurdity, meaning and nonsense.Natalie Stoclet, Forbes, 21 Nov. 2024
-
The basic idea here is that Vince Vaughn is doing his mid-aughts-dirtbag Vince Vaughn thing but on Christmas — a premise that’s laid on a foundation of plausible-sounding nonsense.Katie Rife, Vulture, 16 Nov. 2024
Noun
-
Tijerina pointed to his concerns surrounding immigration and the border, the oil and gas industry and transgender women in sports as issues that drove him to join the GOP, noting that South Texas Democrats have always been more conservative than national Democrats.Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024
-
Anschutz is not a party to the case, but the Anschutz Exploration Group, which produces oil and gas in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming, submitted a friend-of-the-court brief which urged the court to limit the law’s focus to environmental effects that are under the direct control of an agency.David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 10 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
This year's recipients of the lifetime achievement award for artistic accomplishment are director Francis Ford Coppola, the Grateful Dead, jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt.ASHRAF KHALIL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, arkansasonline.com, 9 Dec. 2024
-
The packed house Sunday night danced in the aisles to the bouncy beat after a night of honoring the Dead and other recipients of the lifetime achievement award for artistic accomplishment: director Francis Ford Coppola, jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt.CBS News, CBS News, 9 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
One source of Trump’s instinctive, inimitable political talent is that, for him, oratory and advertisement are entirely coeval domains.Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2024
-
He was not limited to a single playing field either in sports (baseball, basketball, and football) or the arts (acting, oratory, and singing).Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Oct. 2024
Noun
-
Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, one of the mainstays of the twentieth-century orchestral repertory, ends with an unapologetic display of musical bombast.Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024
-
Despite bombast and threats, Mike Pompeo’s lobbying efforts in Europe against Huawei met with only mixed success.Garrett M. Graff, WIRED, 16 Jan. 2020
Noun
-
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
-
Several of them can fly, and all have at least a touch of grandiloquence to them.Michael Nordine, Variety, 11 Aug. 2022
Thesaurus Entries Near rhetoric
Cite this Entry
“Rhetoric.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rhetoric. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share