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In a chapter titled “Conversation,” from her 1922 book Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home, Emily Post offers her trademark good advice for the loquacious among us: “There is a simple rule, by which if one is a voluble chatterer ... one can at least refrain from being a pest or a bore. And the rule is merely, to stop and think.” Voluble, as is clear in this context, describes someone or something (as in “voluble personality/prose/presence”) characterized by ready or rapid speech. Voluble traces back to the Latin verb volvere, meaning “to set in a circular course” or “to cause to roll.” Another volvere descendant, volume, can also be a help in remembering voluble’s meaning, not because someone described as voluble speaks at a loud volume, per se, but because they have volumes to say.
Examples of voluble in a Sentence
Dominic Patten, Deadline, 5 Mar. 2026
Great Again movement is looking to sack the musical performance, given their side's voluble objections to Bad Bunny.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 6 Feb. 2026
At Fox, where Kelly once served as a popular primetime anchor, the network’s usually voluble anchors have stayed silent as their onetime colleagues battle it out.
—Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 31 Dec. 2025
Of course, the filmmaker — himself as voluble and emblematic an NYC icon as the two politicians who met on Friday — was just as happy to throw some punches.
—Ben Croll, Variety, 22 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for voluble
Cite this Entry
“Voluble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/voluble. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
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