Words / C / Medicine

circumlocutory

adjective/ˌsɜːkəmˈlɒkjʊtəri/

C2CEFR level
82/100Rarity: very rare
TechnicalRegister

Using indirect and roundabout language rather than stating something plainly.

His circumlocutory explanation of the symptom made it hard to pin down exactly when it began.

Similar: roundabout, indirect

Topic: Clinical consultation in Medical English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More medicine words: Clinical consultation