Irony & Understatement
Periphrasis
Using a roundabout description instead of a direct name. Depending on context, it can sound formal, avoid a sensitive term, or reveal a speaker’s reluctance to be direct.
"the finny tribe" for fish, in Augustan verse
Don't confuse it with Euphemism, Pleonasm. Euphemism detours specifically around the offensive; pleonasm adds redundant words without rerouting the meaning.
Examples
Please pass the instrument used for cutting paper.
The description takes a roundabout route to the ordinary word “scissors.”
Often used alongside this device
Explore devices that often appear in the same passages as periphrasis.
Litotes 4 Passive Voice 3 Asyndeton 3 Hyperbaton 3
The rest of the family
Irony Hyperbole Litotes Meiosis / Understatement Bathos Euphemism Apophasis