ambages

/ˈam.bɪ.d͡ʒɪz/

Etymology

From Middle English ambages, from Old French ambages (modern French ambages), from Latin ambāges, from ambi- + agere (“to drive”).

Why this word is great

AMBAGES — [Noun] Indirect or roundabout ways of talking or routes. From Latin ambāges ("circuits, circumlocutions"), from ambi- ("around") + agere ("to drive"). Unlike "circumlocution" (which drowns in words) or "periphrasis" (which sidesteps bluntness), ambages meanders—through speech or space—with the quiet insistence of a river refusing the straight path. It is the diplomat’s evasive reply, the footpath that coils like smoke through a dense wood, or the way grief circles the heart before it strikes. Some truths, and some journeys, cannot bear the weight of directness.

noun

Indirect or roundabout ways of talking; circumlocution.“Thus from her cell Cumæan Sibyl sings / Ambiguous ambages, the cloyster rings / With the shrill sound thereof, in most dark strains.”
Indirect or roundabout routes or directions.“Paris put fear into him, a city of monstrous size to which London was but a market town. Its ambages of streets bewildered.”