Rhetoric
Etymology
From Greek "rhetorike techne" (the art of the speaker), from "rhetor" (a public speaker, orator). Once a central pillar of classical education, the word has picked up a suspicious edge — "empty rhetoric" — as persuasion came to be contrasted with truth-seeking.
noun · /RET-uh-rik/
The art of persuasion through language — and, dismissively, language meant to persuade rather than inform.
What it names
A handle for the craft of moving an audience, and for spotting when style is doing the work that substance should.
Example
Strip away the soaring rhetoric and the policy underneath was a single tax cut.
Related idea
Set it against logic and dialectic: logic concerns whether reasoning is correct, dialectic is reasoned dialogue toward truth, while rhetoric aims to persuade an audience — by good reasons or by feeling and cadence. Rhetoric is a tool, neutral until you ask what it is being used to do.