wordy

adjective

ˈwər-dē 

wordier; wordiest

1

: using or containing many and usually too many words

2

: of or relating to words : verbal

wordily

ˈwər-də-lē 

adverb

wordiness

ˈwər-dē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• circuitous
• circumlocutory
• diffuse
• garrulous
• logorrheic
• long-winded
• pleonastic
• prolix
• rambling
• verbose
• windy

Choose the Right Synonym for wordy

wordy, verbose, prolix, diffuse mean using more words than necessary to express thought.

wordy may also imply loquaciousness or garrulity.

a wordy speech

verbose suggests a resulting dullness, obscurity, or lack of incisiveness or precision.

the verbose position papers

prolix suggests unreasonable and tedious dwelling on details.

habitually transformed brief anecdotes into prolix sagas

diffuse stresses lack of compactness and pointedness of style.

diffuse memoirs that are so many shaggy-dog stories

Examples of wordy in a Sentence

The original script was too wordy.

her writing style is far too wordy for my tastes

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s not much subtext, everything remains on the surface, and the exceptionally wordy script relies on exposition dumps to inform the audience about rumors, twists, deals and double-crosses. —Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2024

Morgan recreated the groggy morning voice as Johnson produced overdubs, though that wordy chorus presented a challenge. —Tom Roland, Billboard, 17 Apr. 2024

Jeremy Reimer In general, the Lisa OS is quite wordy, probably because Apple hired technical writers. —Jeremy Reimer, Ars Technica, 19 Jan. 2023

The wordy artworks by a diverse group of Italian women include pages from Italian music fanzines published from 1978 to 2006 and compiled by Dafne Boggeri into a book. —Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024

Like the nuns, viewers waver between certainty and suspicion, so the production remains intriguing despite the wordy dialogue. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 8 Mar. 2024

Most of the album’s songs are no wordier than that. —Steve Hochman, SPIN, 1 Mar. 2024

There do not need to be multiple footnotes and citations and wordy, number-heavy statements. —April Rudin, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024

Steam | Official site Tired of games that bog you down with hours of wordy tutorials to explain their complex mechanics? —Kyle Orland and Sarah Leboeuf, Ars Technica, 18 June 2023

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

wordy

adjective

ˈwərd-ē 

wordier; wordiest

: using or containing too many words

wordily

ˈwərd-ᵊl-ē 

adverb

wordiness

ˈwərd-ē-nəs 

noun