Definition of GARRULOUSNESS

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

Did You Know?

English has many adjectives that share the meaning "given to talk" or "talking." "Talkative" may imply a readiness to talk or a disposition to enjoy conversation, while "loquacious" suggests the power of expressing oneself articulately, fluently, or glibly. "Voluble" suggests a free, easy, and unending talkativeness, and "garrulous" implies talkativeness that is dull, rambling, or tedious. "Garrulous," by the way, derives from the Latin verb garrire, which means (no surprise here) "to chatter" or "to babble."

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 l936, 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

The garrulous Conservative lawmaker, sometime journalist and former mayor of London has never been known for tact or diplomacy. — Washington Post, "Regret, relief at departure of Boris Johnson as top UK envoy," 10 July 2018 The roster rules that are known read like a garrulous alphabet-soup of acronyms and directives. — Patrick Brennan, Cincinnati.com, "Here's how FC Cincinnati plans to build its roster for the 2019 MLS season," 4 July 2018 For now, the immediate goals remain modest for the garrulous Walker. — Jeff Mcdonald, San Antonio Express-News, "Spurs’ new draft pick not just all talk," 23 June 2018 Her alter ego, Annie, is a garrulous diner waitress whose sole customer (Simon Pegg) is a terminally ill teacher looking for a faster way to die. — Vaughn Stein, New York Times, "Review: Revenge Goes Sour in ‘Terminal’," 10 May 2018 The event, co-sponsored with the Silent Film Festival and BAMPFA, was an opportunity to hear Sosin — a garrulous and ingratiating figure with thoughts on a thousand different subjects — explain and demonstrate the ins and outs of his craft. — Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, "From behind the piano, an eclectic improviser sets the tone for silent movies," 7 June 2018 Wolfe, keenly aware of the exhausting nature of the play, conducts the garrulous barroom banter along musical theater lines. — Charles Mcnulty, latimes.com, "A revelatory Denzel Washington in 'The Iceman Cometh'," 10 May 2018 The characters employed to illustrate this point — a group of outcasts and also-rans who hide their heads in whiskey bottles and carefully tended rationalizations — are, as drunks often tend to be, an unbearably garrulous lot. — Ben Brantley, New York Times, "Review: In an Energized ‘Iceman,’ the Drinks are on Denzel," 26 Apr. 2018 In the first, squire Pozzo eats a chicken haunch for lunch and, feeling garrulous, engages social inferiors Gogo and Didi in conversation. — Tony Adler, Chicago Reader, "After all these years, we’re still Waiting for Godot," 30 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'garrulous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for garrulous

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.

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