Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
periodic sentence [peer-ee-od-ik, peer-] Word Origin noun
- a sentence that, by leaving the completion of its main clause to the end, produces an effect of suspense, as in Unable to join the others at the dance because of my sprained ankle, I went to a movie.
Compare loose sentence. Origin of periodic sentence First recorded in 1895–1900 British Dictionary definitions for periodic sentence periodic sentence noun
- rhetoric a sentence in which the completion of the main clause is left to the end, thus creating an effect of suspense