1. A rhetorical argument or syllogism in which one premise is implied or omitted rather than stated explicitly.
Usage: formal; rhetoric and logic

Examples

• The advertisement uses an enthymeme: 'Our product is trusted by doctors' implies the unstated premise that 'trusted products are good.'
• In the enthymeme 'Socrates is mortal because he is a man,' the major premise 'all men are mortal' is left unsaid.
• Political speeches often rely on enthymemes, assuming the audience will fill in the missing logical steps.
• The speaker's enthymeme worked because the audience shared the same unstated assumptions.
• Aristotle identified the enthymeme as a practical form of argument suited to everyday persuasion.