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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

rhetorical.

Part of or similar to rhetoric, the use of language as a means to persuade.

10 characters4 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ɹɪˈtɒɹ.ɪ.kəl/Received-Pronunciation/ɹəˈtɒɹ.ɪ.kəl/Received-Pronunciation/ɹɪˈtɔɹɪkəl/US/ɹəˈtɔɹɪkəl/US
  1. Part of or similar to rhetoric, the use of language as a means to persuade.

    not-comparable
  2. Not earnest, or presented only for the purpose of an argument.

    not-comparable
  3. Asked for dramatic or persuasive effect, rather than to get an answer.

    not-comparable
    '"Are you an idiot? Actually, don't answer that, it was rhetorical."
Where this word comes from

From Middle English rethorycal, rethoricalle, rethorycall, from rethorik, rhetoric (noun) or Latin rēthoricus, rhētoricus, from Ancient Greek ῥητορικός (rhētorikós, “concerning public speaking”). By surface analysis, rhetoric + -al.

noun/ɹɪˈtɒɹ.ɪ.kəl/Received-Pronunciation/ɹəˈtɒɹ.ɪ.kəl/Received-Pronunciation/ɹɪˈtɔɹɪkəl/US/ɹəˈtɔɹɪkəl/US
  1. A study or exercise in rhetoric.

    dated
Where this word comes from

From Middle English rethorycal, rethoricalle, rethorycall, from rethorik, rhetoric (noun) or Latin rēthoricus, rhētoricus, from Ancient Greek ῥητορικός (rhētorikós, “concerning public speaking”). By surface analysis, rhetoric + -al.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.