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- Robert Browning

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Academic Focus: Metric analysis / Historical dialect interpretation. Engaging with diverse historical English builds phonetic agility, linguistic empathy, and reading stamina valued in selective entry exams.

Now that I, tying thy glass mask tightly,

May gaze through these faint smokes curling whitely,

As thou pliest thy trade in this devil's-smithy--

Which is the poison to poison her, prithee?

...

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verb

To have each of a team's batting line-up positions complete an at-bat in the same half-inning.

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Dictionary Entry

paralepsis

Part of SpeechnounPronunciation/par-uh-lep-sis/Word FrequencyRare (0.6)Curriculum FrequencyLess common (1)

A rhetorical device where a speaker pretends not to mention something, thereby drawing attention to it.

In a Sentence

“The politician's speech used paralepsis by saying he wouldn't discuss his opponent's scandals, only making them more prominent.”

Published Usage Examples

“The DI’s position weakened further when they tried over and over again to claim that they weren’t calling Jones a plagiarist—a clumsy attempt at a paralepsis, indeed.”

Year 11 Word List

This entry also appears in ReadingWillow Year 11 word lists, so students can move between the dictionary and year-level study sets.

Origin

From Greek 'paralepsis', meaning 'passing over'.

Common Phrases

Still being gathered for this entry.

Missing dictionary details are being fetched in the background.

Synonyms

feintpretenseevasionindirectnessallusionsuggestion

Antonyms

directnessopennessfranknesscandorexplicitness

Related Words

rhetoricomissionallusionironyparadoxfigure of speechemphasisimplication

Poetry examples for “paralepsis”

Excerpts from the ReadingWillow English Library collection.

Poetry examples are still being gathered for this entry. They will appear here once matching poems are available in the library.