rhetorician

noun

rhet·​o·​ri·​cian ˌre-tə-ˈri-shən How to pronounce rhetorician (audio)
Synonyms of rhetoriciannext
1
a
: a master or teacher of rhetoric
b
: orator
2
: an eloquent or grandiloquent writer or speaker

Examples of rhetorician in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Conley is a rhetorician who researches how cultural influences shape our everyday habits, preferences, biases and desires, particularly in the area of food and taste. — Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Newsweek, 4 Feb. 2025 And, to be fair, inside the Fiserv Forum, the consummate rhetoricians were men of color—Byron Donalds, Wesley Hunt, Vivek Ramaswamy, and, the most fervent of all, Lorenzo Sewell, a pastor from Detroit. — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 25 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of rhetorician was in the 15th century

Rhymes for rhetorician

See All Rhymes for rhetorician

Browse Nearby Words

rhetoricate
rhetorician
rhetorize
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Rhetorician.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rhetorician. Accessed 16 Jun. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on rhetorician

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for rhetorician

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Using Bullet Points ( • )

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Words You Always Have to Look Up

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

8 Words for the Wordy and Talking Too Much

How 'Namaste' Entered The English Language

10 Hella Good U.S. Regionalisms

Rare and Amusing Insults, Volume 3

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

8 Words for the Wordy and Talking Too Much

How 'Namaste' Entered The English Language
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All