peroration •\ˌper-ə-ˈra-shən\• noun 1. (rhetoric) the concluding section of an oration 2. a flowery and highly rhetorical oration The word peroration has appeared in six New York Times articles in the past year, including on Feb. 2 in the Opinion column "Cockroach Ideas" by Paul Krugman: Thursday night I gave a book talk at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, which was actually a lovely event. But sure enough, there were people in the audience insisting that Barney Frank, as part of a powerless minority in the House, nonetheless somehow caused the housing bubble and the whole crisis; years of careful, evidence-based refutations have made no impact at all on these people. Although I have to admit that I'm a bad person; after one questioner finished his peroration with "Am I wrong?," I did kind of enjoy saying, "Yes, you're wrong." Learn more about the word "peroration" and see usage examples across a range of subjects on the Vocabulary dictionary.