wordy

adjective

ˈwər-dē 

wordier; wordiest

1

: using or containing many and usually too many words

2

: of or relating to words : verbal

wordily

ˈwər-də-lē 

adverb

wordiness

ˈwər-dē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• circuitous
• circumlocutory
• diffuse
• garrulous
• logorrheic
• long-winded
• pleonastic
• prolix
• rambling
• verbose
• windy

Choose the Right Synonym for wordy

wordy, verbose, prolix, diffuse mean using more words than necessary to express thought.

wordy may also imply loquaciousness or garrulity.

a wordy speech

verbose suggests a resulting dullness, obscurity, or lack of incisiveness or precision.

the verbose position papers

prolix suggests unreasonable and tedious dwelling on details.

habitually transformed brief anecdotes into prolix sagas

diffuse stresses lack of compactness and pointedness of style.

diffuse memoirs that are so many shaggy-dog stories

Examples of wordy in a Sentence

The original script was too wordy.

her writing style is far too wordy for my tastes

Recent Examples on the Web

Using the Concise function on highlighted text to boil it down strips out too much personality, while the Friendly function gets too wordy and often misses the sentence's or paragraph's original point. —PCMAG, 7 Nov. 2024

This is a talky chamber piece of philosophical face-offs, debate duels and wordy warfare, though the outcomes remain just as harrowing. —Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 7 Nov. 2024

Airing on October 6, the 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris included a question on the Middle East to which Harris initially gave a meandering, wordy answer. —Alena Botros, Fortune, 1 Nov. 2024

In the clip, Harris gave a wordy answer when Whitaker confronted her about Netanyahu seeming to not listen to the U.S. about how to handle conflict in the Middle East. —Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

wordy

adjective

ˈwərd-ē 

wordier; wordiest

: using or containing too many words

wordily

ˈwərd-ᵊl-ē 

adverb

wordiness

ˈwərd-ē-nəs 

noun