garrulous

adjective

gar·​ru·​lous ˈger-ə-ləs 

ˈga-rə-,

 also  ˈger-yə-

1

: given to prosy, rambling, or tedious loquacity : pointlessly or annoyingly talkative

2

: wordy sense 1

garrulous speeches

garrulously adverb

garrulousness noun

Did you know?

Garrulous is a 17th century Latin borrowing that has its origin in garrīre, meaning "to chatter, talk rapidly." That Latin root is probably imitative in origin—that is, it was coined to imitate what it refers to. English has a number of words that are imitative in origin, among them several others that describe ways of talking, such as babble and chatter.

Synonyms

• blabby
• chatty
• conversational
• gabby
• loquacious
• motormouthed
• mouthy
• talkative
• talky

Choose the Right Synonym for garrulous

talkative, loquacious, garrulous, voluble mean given to talk or talking.

talkative may imply a readiness to engage in talk or a disposition to enjoy conversation.

a talkative neighbor

loquacious suggests the power of expressing oneself articulately, fluently, or glibly.

a loquacious spokesperson

garrulous implies prosy, rambling, or tedious loquacity.

garrulous traveling companions

voluble suggests a free, easy, and unending loquacity.

a voluble raconteur

Examples of garrulous in a Sentence

Salman grew ever more garrulous as the yellow liquid in the bottle went down; Baal couldn't recall when he'd last heard anyone talk up such a storm. —Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses, 1989

To an American reader in 1982, confronted with this garrulous, indefatigably quirky, I'm-just-typing-on-yellow-paper-and-associating-ideas-and-memories prose work of 1936, such a judgment, by a presumably informed person, seems preposterous. —Joyce Carol Oates, New York Times Book Review, 3 Oct. 1982

He was not garrulous by any means. On the contrary, there was a fine reserve in his manner toward the entire domestic economy of his life which was all that is comprehended by the popular term, gentlemanly. —Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie, 1900

He became more garrulous after drinking a couple of beers.

a garrulous boy who was in constant trouble for talking out of turn

Recent Examples on the Web

Seed’s father, a garrulous and engaging Brit, may not be as famous for his semiotic theories, but his words do as much as anyone’s to fuel the filmmaker’s curiosity. —David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 20 Nov. 2024

Trump also worked to steamroll his interviewer, rarely pausing to be interrogated and returning questions with garrulous responses. —Brian Steinberg, Variety, 26 Nov. 2024

In Saunders’s indelible portrait, set in a graveyard populated by garrulous spirits, these images collide and coalesce, transforming Lincoln’s private grief — his 11-year-old boy, Willie, died in the White House in 1862 — into a nation’s, a polyphony of voices and stories. —New York Times, 8 July 2024

The place has been around for over a century and has been run the whole time by the Balzano family, notably the garrulous, charismatic philosopher king, Sunny Balzano, who died in 2016. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin garrulus, from garrīre "to chatter, talk rapidly" (probably of imitative origin) + -ulus, deverbal suffix denoting inclination or repetitive action (going back to Indo-European -l-, participial suffix) — more at -ous

Note: For possible relation to a proposed Indo-European base *ǵeh₂r-, see care entry 1.

First Known Use

circa 1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

garrulous

adjective

gar·​ru·​lous ˈgar-ə-ləs 

: overly talkative

garrulously adverb

garrulousness noun