noun
- Plural of aposiopesis; instances of deliberately breaking off or leaving a thought unfinished in speech or writing, often for rhetorical effect.
Usage: literary and rhetorical term; used in grammar and stylistics
Examples
- The speaker used several aposiopeses to create suspense, leaving key phrases incomplete.
- In poetry, aposiopeses can emphasize emotion by abruptly halting mid-sentence.
- The author's aposiopeses throughout the novel forced readers to fill in the blanks themselves.
- Rhetorical aposiopeses are common in dramatic dialogue to suggest hesitation or shock.
- The lawyer's strategic aposiopeses left the jury wondering what she was about to reveal.