rhetorical
adjective/rɪˈtɒrɪkl/
/rɪˈtɔːrɪkl/
- (of a question) asked only to make a statement or to produce an effect rather than to get an answer
- ‘Don't you care what I do?’ he asked, but it was a rhetorical question.
- (formal, often disapproving) (of a speech or piece of writing) intended to influence people, but not completely honest or sincereTopics Languagec1
- (formal) connected with the art of rhetoric
- the use of rhetorical devices such as metaphor and irony
- She ended her speech with a rhetorical flourish.
Word Originlate Middle English (first used in the sense ‘eloquently expressed’): via Latin from Greek rhētorikos (from rhētor ‘rhetor’) + -al.
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rhetorical