Aposiopesis
//ˌæpəsaɪəˈpiːsɪs// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An abrupt breaking-off in speech, often indicated in print using an ellipsis (…) or an em dash (—). countable, rhetoric, uncountable
"—"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."
- 2 breaking off in the middle of a sentence (as by writers of realistic conversations) wordnet
Example
More examples"—"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."
Etymology
From Latin aposiopesis, from Ancient Greek ἀποσιώπησις (aposiṓpēsis), from ἀποσιωπάω (aposiōpáō, “be silent”), from ἀπό (apó, “off, from”) + σιωπάω (siōpáō, “to be silent”).
Related phrases
More for "aposiopesis"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.