Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Set off within or as if within parentheses; qualifying or explanatory.
- adjective Using or containing parentheses.
- noun A parenthetical word, phrase, or remark.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Pertaining to or of the nature of a parenthesis; expressed as or in a parenthesis: as, a parenthetical clause.
- Using or containing parentheses: as, a parenthetical style.
- Occurring like a parenthesis or episode; incidental.
- Curved; bowed; resembling in shape the marks called parentheses.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective using, containing, or within
parentheses (like this) - adjective that
explains orqualifies something - adjective that is
incidental - noun a word or phrase within parentheses
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective qualifying or explaining; placed or as if placed in parentheses
- noun an expression in parentheses
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Churchill believed you could do what he called parenthetical praise; that later on, you could say, ` And, by the way, I've spoken to many audiences.
Confessions of a White House Ghostwriter: Five Presidents and other Political Adventures 1997
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A correspondent from Armenia writes to ask about the origins of you know as a parenthetical conversational 'filler'.
Archive 2007-08-01 DC 2007
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A correspondent from Armenia writes to ask about the origins of you know as a parenthetical conversational 'filler'.
On you know DC 2007
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But then the writer, who is really amusing himself by now, is all excited that he got to use the fifty-cent word "parenthetical" within a parenthetical, which is almost as good as having an intalicized footnote.
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But then the writer, who is really amusing himself by now, is all excited that he got to use the fifty-cent word "parenthetical" within a parenthetical, which is almost as good as having an intalicized footnote.
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But then the writer, who is really amusing himself by now, is all excited that he got to use the fifty-cent word "parenthetical" within a parenthetical, which is almost as good as having an intalicized footnote.
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For reasons I'll get to in a minute, I wish that the parenthetical were a bit more artfully worded.
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For reasons I'll get to in a minute, I wish that the parenthetical were a bit more artfully worded.
Archive 2009-09-01 2009
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I'm still not sure how the so-called parenthetical bit gets into the sentence.
On who(m)ever DC 2008
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My parenthetical was a snide dig at the Pauls of the world who want their racism excused as simply "un-PC".
Will sensitivity about racism turn racism into a taboo subject? Ann Althouse 2007
uselessness commented on the word parenthetical
Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
January 25, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word parenthetical
Rarely used parenthetical statements.
August 26, 2008