rhetoric
n. uncountablen. the art of speaking or writing effectively to persuade people. It is also used to describe impressive-sounding language that is actually empty or insincere. You often hear it when politicians make big promises they do not intend to keep.
n. the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and compositional techniques. In contemporary usage, it frequently describes language designed to persuade or impress that is perceived as lacking sincerity or meaningful content.
The mayor's speech was full of empty rhetoric.
The candidate relied on angry rhetoric to fire up the crowd, but offered very few practical solutions to the city's problems.
While classical scholars study rhetoric as the foundational art of civic persuasion, modern political commentators often use the term dismissively to describe manipulative or hollow talking points.
From Middle English rethorik, from Latin rēthoricus, rhētoricus, from Ancient Greek ῥητορῐκός (rhētorĭkós). By surface analysis, rhetor + -ic.
From Middle English rethorik, rhetoric, from Old French rhetorique, from Latin rhētorica, from Ancient Greek ῥητορική (rhētorikḗ), ellipsis of ῥητορικὴ τέχνη (rhētorikḕ tékhnē), from ῥητορικός (rhētorikós, “concerning public speech”), from ῥήτωρ (rhḗtōr, “public speaker”).
Frequently used in a pejorative sense to describe political speech; commonly collocates with adjectives like 'empty', 'heated', or 'political'.