verbosity

noun

ver·​bos·​i·​ty (ˌ)vər-ˈbä-sə-tē 

: the quality or state of being verbose or wordy : the use of too many words

So his wife's good-natured jab about his verbosity comes as no surprise, nor did it when an impromptu conversation with him Monday afternoon stretched so long it nearly made me late to pick up my kids from daycare.

—Matt Driscoll

… an art form with more than its share of superfluous verbosity and thematic self-indulgence …

—Chris Jones

At its worst it suffers from the verbosity and repetitiveness of a political science treatise …

—Edward Mortimer

Synonyms of verbosity

• wordiness
• prolixity
• repetition
• repetitiveness
• logorrhea
• diffuseness
• wordage
• verboseness
• garrulousness
• garrulity
• diffusion
• windiness
• periphrasis
• circumlocution
• long-windedness

Examples of verbosity in a Sentence

your ideas are good, but your penchant for verbosity is unfortunate

Recent Examples on the Web

His verbosity has become a point of contention. — R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 29 June 2026

Clarity In the AI era, verbosity is free and clarity is expensive. — Ankur Shah, Forbes.com, 18 June 2026

Director Scott Ellis understands all this and thus the admirably specific physical business and slurred verbosity in his gently outré revival really makes for quite the amusing diversion. — Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 20 Apr. 2026

Her drawl, verbosity, and avant-garde black-and-white outfits were immediately embedded in popular culture; O’Hara won an Emmy for the role. — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1541, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for verbosity

• atrocity
• ferocity
• monstrosity
• pomposity
• porosity
• precocity
• schistosity
• velocity
• viscosity
• animosity
• curiosity
• generosity