Word.ws English Dictionary

aposiopesis

Syllables: apo·si·o·pe·sis/ˌæpəsaɪəˈpiːsɪs/

aposiopesis noun: an abrupt breaking-off in speech, often indicated in print using an ellipsis (…) or an em dash (—).

Noun

aposiopesis (countable and uncountable, plural aposiopeses)

  1. (rhetoric) An abrupt breaking-off in speech, often indicated in print using an ellipsis (…) or an em dash (—).
    • —"My ſiſter, mayhap," quoth my uncle Toby, "does not chooſe to let a man come ſo near her ****" Make this daſh—'tis an Apoſiopeſis.—Take the daſh away, and write Backſide,—'tis Bawdy.1759, [Laurence Sterne], chapter VI, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 2nd (1st London) edition, volume II, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], published 1760, →OCLC...
    • Aposiopesis leaves imperfect sense;
      And, sometimes, such a pause speaks eloquence.1835, L[arret] Langley, “[Rhetorical Figures.] Aposiopesis.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 57
    Synonyms:
    reticence

aposiopesis meaning in Tagalog

aposiopesis in Tagalog

abrupt breaking-off in speech
untol

Examples of aposiopesis in a sentence

  • “If you are not—” The aposiopesis was icy.1911, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson:
  • It was an aposiopesis of the purest kind.1938, Samuel Beckett, Murphy, London: George Routledge & Sons, OCLC 939632162; republished New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, 1957, OCLC...
  • This somewhat abrupt ending (or aposiopesis) is caused by a previous movement from the figure on the bed.1982, John Fowles, Mantissa, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN:

Synonyms of aposiopesis

Forms of aposiopesis

pluralaposiopeses

Origin of aposiopesis

From Latin aposiopesis, from Ancient Greek ἀποσιώπησις (aposiṓpēsis), from ἀποσιωπάω (aposiōpáō, “be silent”), from ἀπό (apó, “off, from”) + σιωπάω (siōpáō, “to be silent”).

Questions about aposiopesis

What does aposiopesis mean?
Aposiopesis means an abrupt breaking-off in speech, often indicated in print using an ellipsis (…) or an em dash (—).
What is aposiopesis in Tagalog?
Aposiopesis in Tagalog is untol. See Aposiopesis meaning in Tagalog.
How do you use aposiopesis in a sentence?
“If you are not—” The aposiopesis was icy.
What part of speech is aposiopesis?
Aposiopesis is a noun.
How do you pronounce aposiopesis?
Aposiopesis is pronounced /ˌæpəsaɪəˈpiːsɪs/.
What is the plural of aposiopesis?
The plural of aposiopesis is aposiopeses.

Words near aposiopesis in the dictionary

  1. aposematisms
  2. aposepalous
  3. aposiderophore
  4. aposiderophores
  5. aposiopeses
  6. aposiopesis
  7. aposiopestic
  8. aposiopetic
  9. aposomatic
  10. aposome
  11. aposomes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: aposiopesis (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-aposiopesis.wav.

Cite this entry: “aposiopesis.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/aposiopesis. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.