rə̇ˈtȯrə̇kəl, -tär-, -rēk- adjective
also rhe·tor·ic rə̇ˈtȯrik, -tär-, -rēk
Etymology: rhetorical from Middle English, from Latin rhetoricus rhetorical (from Greek rhētorikos ) + English -al; rhetoric from Middle English rethorick, from Middle French rethorique, modification of Latin rhetoricus
1.
a. : of, relating to, or concerned with rhetoric
accepted two or three verbal and rhetorical changes that I suggested — W.A.White
make science, in part, at least, a subject for rhetorical discourse — Quarterly Journ. of Speech
the rhetorical sin of the meaningless variation — Lewis Mumford
b. : employed for rhetorical effect
don't remember a single decorative or rhetorical word in his first ten cantos — Ezra Pound
— often used without regard to some actual condition or circumstance qualifying or negating the literal significance of the statement
must have known that he was acting too late to stay the legislator's stampede to vote and adjourn, so his message was partly rhetorical — New Republic
the offer was rhetorical , with no certainty … that the money would be paid at all — T.E.Lawrence
an essentially rhetorical charge — Rupert Emerson
2.
a. : given to rhetoric : emphasizing style often at the expense of thought : grandiloquent , bombastic
wrote long rhetorical speeches like operatic solos, regarding my plays as musical performances — E.R.Bentley
an essay on friendship, high-flown, rhetorical — H.S.Canby
flamboyant and rhetorical tastes, which produced the most beautiful architecture of the past — Stephen Spender
b. : employing or relating to speech or oratory especially in contradistinction to other modes of communication or contest
the actual thought of a real war, not a rhetorical one — Vincent Sheean
has finally repudiated color caste — at the rhetorical level — Carey McWilliams