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 of wordy

• rambling
• talkative
• prolix

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

Clearly, this was a bit wordy, so this became ‘parking the bus’, which initially found popularity as an insult for unambitious football, then later was used in a more neutral manner to mean deep defending. —Michael Cox, New York Times, 14 Dec. 2025

Max went back to its original name, HBO Max, while Paramount+ renamed its wordy Paramount+ With Showtime tier to Paramount+ Premium. —PC Magazine, 14 Oct. 2025

Anders is also very wordy, and subtitles can only capture maybe 30 percent of it. —Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2025

For example, the AI maker might tell the AI to always respond succinctly and not be overly wordy. —Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

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

Rhymes for wordy

• birdie
• gurdy
• purdy
• sturdy
• thirty

Kids Definition

wordy

adjective

ˈwərd-ē 

wordier; wordiest

: using or containing too many words

wordily

ˈwərd-ᵊl-ē 

adverb

wordiness

ˈwərd-ē-nəs 

noun