Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Periphrastic \Per`i*phras"tic\, Periphrastical
\Per`i*phras"tic*al\, a. [Gr. ?: cf. F. p['e]riphrastique.]
   Expressing, or expressed, in more words than are necessary;
   characterized by periphrase; circumlocutory.

   {Periphrastic conjugation} (Gram.), a conjugation formed by
      the use of the simple verb with one or more auxiliaries.

Source : WordNet®

periphrastic
     adj : roundabout and unnecessarily wordy; "had a preference for
           circumlocutious (or circumlocutory) rather than
           forthright expression"; "A periphrastic study in a
           worn-out poetical fashion,/ Leaving one still with the
           intolerable wrestle/ With words and
           meanings."-T.S.Eliot; (`ambagious' is archaic) [syn: {circumlocutious},
            {circumlocutory}, {ambagious}]