RHETORIC Synonyms: 57 Similar and Opposite Words

rhetoric

noun

ˈre-tə-rik

Definition of rhetoric

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

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

inarticulateness

Example 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 Gillespie said the president's immigration rhetoric could carry particular significance in a community where immigrant workers have contributed to the local economy. — Dan Raby, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026 The axis countries may moderate their anti-American rhetoric when doing so is tactically useful, but their motivation to reduce their vulnerability to American power remains. — Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Foreign Affairs, 16 Oct. 2026 As energy costs have risen in recent years, though, Democrats have changed their rhetoric. — Maydeen Merino, The Washington Examiner, 15 Oct. 2026 My own research on political communication has shown that a substantial number of members of Congress, strongly skewing Republican, make frequent use of rhetoric that undermines democratic norms and delegitimizes political institutions. — Christopher Miller, The Conversation, 15 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for rhetoric

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rhetoric

Noun

The gusty offshore winds combined with very warm and dry conditions will maintain Red Flag Warnings for most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties through Saturday.

— CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Persist toward Ithaca, but be prepared to correct your course as the winds and circumstances change.

— Jeff DeGraff, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of wind

Noun

Jeffrey, who had one daughter, wrote poetry and rap lyrics with a social conscience and was involved in jailhouse ministry while he was incarcerated.

— Connor Sheets, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
But when Batter gets a dream job at Peck & Peck, the most prestigious poetry quarterly in the world, his life moves into the literary fast lane.

— Danielle Parker, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of poetry

Noun

In the eyes of the conferences, and CFP committee, the allure of a postseason bid is the carrot that would dangle in front of them so that fans would look the other way at the nonsense this creates for the football played in September or October.

— Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026
My fellow relishers of Trowbridge nonsense, today is our day of jubilee.

— Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of nonsense

Noun

Anning co-founder and CEO Sophie Broun believes that methods borrowed from the oil and gas industry could unlock this energy source.

— Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 18 Oct. 2026
Qatar, a gas-rich monarchy in the Persian Gulf, is accustomed to walking a fine line.

— Eric Cortellessa, Time, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of gas

Noun

Lie plays legendary real-life jazz pianist Bill Evans in the unconventional biopic.

— Patrick Hipes, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026
Then came his rediscovery of music, something within him as far back as his great-grandfather and legendary jazz pianist and composer Fats Waller.

— Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of jazz

Noun

The era of political oratory made stars of the unlikeliest speakers, whose photographs or transcripts can barely convey what felt to audiences like an electrical current.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
The painting, which had hung in the oratory for more than three centuries, has never been recovered.

— Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of oratory

Noun

All the bombast and charisma of the music and the persona were made to feel depressingly small.

— Jeff Weiss, HollywoodReporter, 1 Sep. 2026
The problem with the abstract expressionists’ relentless courting of the sublime was that the process of distillation produced too much bombast.

— Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of bombast

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

Definition of grandiloquence

Browse Nearby Words

rhapsody

rhetoric

rhetorical

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Style

“Rhetoric.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rhetoric. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of rhetoric

noun

Example Sentences

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