WORDY Synonyms: 67 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the adjective 'wordy' differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of wordy are diffuse , prolix , and verbose . While all these words mean "using more words than necessary to express thought," wordy may also imply loquaciousness or garrulity. // a wordy speech

Q: When would 'diffuse' be a good substitute for 'wordy'?

The synonyms diffuse and wordy are sometimes interchangeable, but diffuse stresses lack of compactness and pointedness of style. // diffuse memoirs that are so many shaggy-dog stories

Q: When is it sensible to use 'prolix' instead of 'wordy'?

The words prolix and wordy are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, prolix suggests unreasonable and tedious dwelling on details. // habitually transformed brief anecdotes into prolix sagas

Q: When can 'verbose' be used instead of 'wordy'?

While in some cases nearly identical to wordy , verbose suggests a resulting dullness, obscurity, or lack of incisiveness or precision. // the verbose position papers

wordy

adjective

ˈwər-dē

Definition of wordy next

as in rambling

using or containing more words than necessary to express an idea her writing style is far too wordy for my tastes

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as in rhetoric

of or relating to words or language the neighborhood dispute escalated into a wordy war conducted through angry letters to the editor in the local paper

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How does the adjective wordy differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of wordy are diffuse, prolix, and verbose. While all these words mean "using more words than necessary to express thought," wordy may also imply loquaciousness or garrulity.

a wordy speech

When would diffuse be a good substitute for wordy?

The synonyms diffuse and wordy are sometimes interchangeable, but diffuse stresses lack of compactness and pointedness of style.

diffuse memoirs that are so many shaggy-dog stories

When is it sensible to use prolix instead of wordy?

The words prolix and wordy are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, prolix suggests unreasonable and tedious dwelling on details.

habitually transformed brief anecdotes into prolix sagas

When can verbose be used instead of wordy?

While in some cases nearly identical to wordy, verbose suggests a resulting dullness, obscurity, or lack of incisiveness or precision.

the verbose position papers

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of wordy Chatty newsletters, wordy Substacks and quirky TikTok videos and Instagram stories rely more heavily on personality and emotion than do their TV and old-school print counterparts. —

Brian Steinberg, Variety, 6 Jan. 2025 Players said Bieniemy’s plays were wordy and hard to learn, and the results reflected those struggles. —

Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 5 Dec. 2024 Compared to my last record, this project feels very wordy to me. —

Kyle Denis, Billboard, 21 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, 7 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for wordy

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wordy

Adjective

In the early morning hours of Dec. 26, 1996, Patsy Ramsey called 911 to report her 6-year-old daughter JonBenét missing, and found a rambling ransom note left inside their Boulder, Colorado, home.

— Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 20 Dec. 2024
His statement came a day after the release of the Netflix series, which takes viewers back to the morning after Christmas 28 years ago, when JonBenét’s mother called 911 to report finding a rambling ransom note and her daughter missing.

— Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News, 3 Dec. 2024