circumstantiality

circumstantiality
A disturbance in the thought process, either voluntary or involuntary, in which one gives an excessive amount of detail (circumstances) that is often tangential, elaborate, and irrelevant, to avoid making a direct statement or answer to a question; observed in schizophrenia and in obsessional disorders. Cf.:tangentiality. [L. circum-sto, pr. p. -stans, to stand around]

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cir·cum·stan·ti·al·i·ty .sər-kəm-.stan-chē-'al-ət-ē n, pl -ties a conversational pattern (as in some manic states) exhibiting excessive attention to irrelevant and digressive details

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n.
a disorder of thought in which thinking and speech proceed slowly and with many unnecessary trivial details. It is sometimes seen in organic psychosis, in schizophrenia, and in people of pedantic and obsessional personality.

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cir·cum·stan·ti·al·i·ty (sur″kəm-stan″she-alґĭ-te) a disturbed pattern of speech or writing characterized by delay in getting to the point because of the interpolation of unnecessary details and irrelevant parenthetical remarks; seen in persons with schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Cf. tangentiality.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • Circumstantiality — Cir cum*stan ti*al i*ty, n. The state, characteristic, or quality of being circumstantial; particularity or minuteness of detail. I will endeavor to describe with sufficient circumstantiality. De Quincey. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • circumstantiality — index detail, particularity Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • circumstantiality — [sʉr΄kəmstan΄shē al′ə tē] n. 1. the quality of being circumstantial 2. pl. circumstantialities particularity; detail …   English World dictionary

  • circumstantiality — circumstantial ► ADJECTIVE 1) (of evidence) consisting of facts that strongly suggest something, but do not provide conclusive proof. 2) containing full details. DERIVATIVES circumstantiality noun circumstantially adverb …   English terms dictionary

  • circumstantiality — ˌ ̷ ̷kəmzˌtanchēˈaləd.ē, mˌst , aan , ain , ətē, i noun ( es) 1. : the quality or state of being circumstantial: as a. : particularity or minuteness of detail a legend arose of such circumstantiality that the wise historian would hesitate to… …   Useful english dictionary

  • circumstantiality — noun see circumstantial …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • circumstantiality — /serr keuhm stan shee al i tee/, n., pl. circumstantialities for 2, 3. 1. the quality of being circumstantial; minuteness; fullness of detail. 2. a circumstance; a detail. 3. Psychiatry. a pattern of speech that seems to wander because of… …   Universalium

  • circumstantiality — noun a) Minute detail. b) An irrelevant detail that disturbs ones thought process …   Wiktionary

  • circumstantiality — Synonyms and related words: accuracy, attention to detail, conscientiousness, correctness, criticality, criticalness, delicacy, detail, exactingness, exactitude, exactness, exquisiteness, finicality, finicalness, finickiness, finickingness,… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • circumstantiality — n. quality of being dependent on circumstances, fullness of detail …   English contemporary dictionary

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