Epiplexis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A rhetorical device in which a speaker rebukes or reproaches an opponent or audience through a series of pointed questions
2. A figure of speech that scolds or challenges listeners by asking them questions meant to expose their folly or faults
3. The rhetorical technique of reproaching someone with repeated questions that press them to admit their errors

Etymology: Epiplexis is a rhetorical term for a question asked in order to rebuke or reproach, where the speaker tries to shame the listener by putting pointed questions to them rather than stating the criticism outright. The Greek original, "epiplexis," meant "rebuke" or "reprimand," and the verb behind it, "epiplēssein," meant "to chastise." The Greek noun is built from two parts. The prefix "epi-" means "upon" or "over," and the root comes from "plēssein," "to strike." Together the sense is roughly of a blow landing on someone, which fits the way a sharp question can hit its target like a slap. The image is physical in origin, but in the word's use it became purely verbal: the strike is delivered with words. The term passed into Latin as "epiplexis," keeping the Greek form largely intact, and English later took it over from Latin. It belongs to the vocabulary of classical rhetoric, the set of named figures of speech that ancient and later teachers of oratory catalogued, so its use in English is mainly technical and literary.

Synonyms: rhetorical question, erotesis