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rhetorically

adverb

Simple meaning

In a way that uses words to persuade or influence.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ruhtawrihklee

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IPA pronunciation (US)

ɹəˈtɔɹɪkli

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adverb

  1. In a rhetorical manner

    “`What can be done?' he asked rhetorically.”

  2. With reference to rhetoric.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)

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More ways to use rhetorically

  • “`What can be done?' he asked rhetorically.”adverb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

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asked rhetoricallyleast rhetoricallyrhetorically effectiverhetorically powerful

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • rhetoricaladjectiveBase word

    Of or relating to rhetoric.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • rhetoricnounDerived noun

    Using language effectively to please or persuade.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.