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| roundabout; not following a direct path. ex: circutious bus route btwn 2 cities went here, there... or salesmans rout was circutious - it wound ailessly thru many small towns. circutious argument - one that takes a while to make a point. circular - one that ends up where it begins or attempts to prove something w/out offering new info. |
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| an indeirect xpression; use of wordy or evasive language. ex: lawyer's circumlocution left every1 wondering what he had said. indicted xecutive evaded the reporters' q's by resorting to circulocution. to use big vague words / speak in disorganized way is to be circumlocutory |
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| to draw a line around ; to set limits/define/restrict. ex: constitution clearly circumscribes restrictions that can b placed on our personal freedoms. a barbed wire fence and armed guards circumscribed the movement of the prisoners |
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| cautious. as a public speaker, nick was extremely circumspect; he always took great care not to say the wrong thing. the circumpsect general did everything he could not to put his soliders at risk. |
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| to frustrate as though by surrounding ex: our hopes for an early end of the meeting were circumvented by the chairperson's refusal to deal w/ the items on the agenda. angry school board circumvented the students' effort to install color tv in classes. |
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| polite; civilized; courteous. ex: our dinner guets conducteed themselves civilly when we told them we werent going to seve dinner after all.civil rights - rights established by laws. civil service - is gov sevice. |
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| mercy; forgiveness; mildness. the gov commited an act of clemency when he released all the convicts from the state penitentiary. mild weather = clement, bad = inclement. |
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| an overussed saying/idea. the xpression 'u cant judge a book by its cover' is a cliche:its been used so many times, that freshness has been worn away |
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| an exclusive group bound together by some shared quality/interest. the school staff were a real cliue; they all hung out 2gether and wudnt talk to anyone else. |
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