rhetoric, n. 1. eloquence, power of speech, appeal, forcefulness, expressiveness, cogency; elocution, diction, articulation, enunciation, intonation, vocalization, address, delivery; command of words, way with words, Inf. gift of gab, Archaic, facundity; (all of speech) fluency, facility, ease, gracefulness, glibness, slickness, smoothness.
2. bombast, grandiosity, rodomontade, pomposity, orotundity, magniloquence, grandiloquence; oratory, rant, declamation, extravagance, high-flown language, sesquipedality; verbosity, verboseness, wordiness, prolixity, prolixness; tumidity, turgidity, flatulence, inflatedness, Archaic, tympany; bravado, braggadocio, gasconade, boasting, Sl. hot air.
3. Disparaging, (all in reference to speech) technique, form, art; artfulness, cleverness, deftness, ingeniousness, ingenuity, slickness; trickery, hocus-pocus, linguistic legerdemain.
rhetorical, adj. 1. eloquent, articulate, well-spoken, silver-tongued, Archaic, facund, Obs. facundious, Ciceronian; (all of speech) poetic, graceful, easy, facile, flowing, fluent, glib, slick, smooth, smoothtongued.
2. (all of speech) expressive, cogent, telling; forceful, emphatic, spirited, vigorous, impassioned, trenchant, vehement, burning; striking, vivid, graphic; effective, persuasive, impressive; concise, succinct, pointed, pithy, meaty.
3. bombastic, bombastical, orotund, fustian, haughty, pretentious, ostentatious, flaunting; grandiose, magniloquent, Johnsonian, Ossianic, sonorous, sesquipedalian; high-sounding, high-flown, lofty, Inf. highfalutin, Inf. high-hat; inflated, swollen, bloated, turgid, tumid, flatulent, plethoric; euphuistic, periphrastic, extravagant, oratorical, ranting, mouthy, declamatory; flamboyant, flashy, ornate, ornamental, showy, flowery, florid.
rhyme, n. 1. verse, poetry, limerick, jingle, versification, Archaic, poesy.
2. rhyme or reason logic, sense, plan; motive, motivation, casue.
rhythm, n. 1. beat, cadence, tempo, pulse, throb; pulsation, cadence, cadency, rhythmicity; beating, throbbing; oscillation, undulation; periodicity, recurrence, reoccurrence, reappearance, intermittence.
2. flow, harmonious flow, movement, regular movement, rhythmic flow, lilt, jingle, swing; balance, proportion, symmetry, order; harmony, equilibrium, con-cinnity, euphony, right word in the right place.
3. accent, accentuation, stress, emphasis, syllable stress, primary or secondary or tertiary stress, weak stress; periodic emphasis, rhythmical emphasis, rhythm pattern, Music, rhythmical accentuation, Music, arsis or upbeat, Music, thesis or downbeat, Pros, ictus, prominent pulsation.
4. Prosody, meter, measure, numbers, rate; strain, foot; prosody, metrics, Rare, orthometry.
rhythmic, adj. cadenced, cadent, metrical, metric, measured, tripping; rhythmical, regular, steady, periodic, accentual, recurrent, recurring, seasonal, cyclical; pulsating, pulsing, beating, throbbing, palpitating; balanced, even, symmetrical, symmetric; flowing, fluent, melodious, harmonious; prosodic, prosodical.
ribald, adj. 1. vulgar, obscene, lewd, salacious, pornographic; suggestive, risqud, off-color, Inf. blue; lecherous, lubricous, goatish, lustful, ruttish, libidinous, concupiscent, carnal, sexy, erotic, sensual, Archaic, lickerish; licentious, lascivious, Cyprian, prurient, wanton, loose, libertine, promiscuous, Paphian, unchaste; offensive, disgusting, gross, rank,