circumlocutory

adjective

Definition of circumlocutorynext
as in rambling
using or containing more words than necessary to express an idea the studio's statement that "the film's earnings did not live up to expectations" was a circumlocutory admission that the movie was a flop

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumlocutory
  1. rambling
  2. prolix
  3. talkative
  4. verbose
  5. exaggerated
  6. circuitous
  7. wordy
Adjective
  • There is more than 178 feet of beach and ocean frontage, which can be accessed via a rambling wooden staircase.
    Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 5 Nov. 2024
  • Some, of course, will find this style of writing off-putting and too rambling or the prose verging on purple, the narrative perhaps not story-driven enough.
    Erik Kain, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024
Definition of rambling
Adjective
  • Words, including those of artists themselves—as prolix in their way as critics, curators, and historians—can serve vision but can also deflect from it.
    Barry Schwabsky, ARTnews.com, 3 Sep. 2019
  • In 1949, a young American artist named Ray Johnson left Black Mountain College near Asheville, N.C., moved to New York City and began to explore his prolix talents, both visual and verbal.
    Roberta Smith, New York Times, 30 May 2024
Definition of prolix
Adjective
  • The unassuming O’Connell even mustered up some swagger and was much more talkative with teammates on the practice field.
    Vic Tafur, The Athletic, 20 Aug. 2024
  • Those born under the Gemini zodiac sign are said to be talkative, outgoing and adaptable.
    Olivia Munson, USA TODAY, 18 June 2024
Definition of talkative
Adjective
  • The lawmaker said that the usable speech only came after four or five prompts that generated unusable material, either too verbose or oddly phrased, an illustration of how important the input into the AI is to the result.
    Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Jan. 2023
  • The verbose coach was at somewhat of a loss for words, opting to forgo opening remarks in his postgame press conference and instead diving right into questions.
    Tom Green | tgreen@al.com, al, 18 Jan. 2023
Definition of verbose
Adjective
  • Like any good network soap, Grey’s loves to torture us with exaggerated teaser clips.
    Laura Bradley, Vulture, 15 Nov. 2024
  • Because of the same exaggerated respect for states, each elects two of the 100 senators.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024
Definition of exaggerated
Adjective
  • In 2002, Iran’s clandestine nuclear program was exposed, and the United States imposed a progression of sanctions that effectively blocked even this circuitous route.
    Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 20 Nov. 2024
  • But like a pint-sized Ulysses, George never stays in one place for long on his circuitous route home.
    Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2024
Definition of circuitous
Adjective
  • 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
  • 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, PCMAG, 7 Nov. 2024
Definition of wordy
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near circumlocutory

circumlocution

circumlocutory

circumnavigate

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Circumlocutory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumlocutory. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

9 Superb Owl Words

15 Words That Used to Mean Something Different
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
sweet smart pug puppy dog sitting in front of blackboard with chalk question marks
Commonly Confused Words Quiz Vol. 3 Do you have a (flare/flair) for choosing the righ...