as in rambling
using or containing more words than necessary to express an idea
the studio's statement that "the film's earnings did not live up to expectations" was a circumlocutory admission that the movie was a flop
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumlocutory
Adjective
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The videos, which depict handwritten journals and a display of high-powered weaponry, paint a portrait of a person with a rambling and deeply nihilistic outlook, according to analyses by law enforcement and ABC News.—
Megan Forrester,
ABC News,
27 Aug. 2025 -
There’s nothing worse than a long, rambling story that’s resolved in an only-mildly humorous ending.—
Jay Sullivan,
Forbes.com,
25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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In 1949, a young American artist named Ray Johnson left Black Mountain College near Asheville, N.C., moved to New York City and began to explore his prolix talents, both visual and verbal.—
Roberta Smith,
New York Times,
30 May 2024
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His answer is this book: a laudably sincere, exasperatingly prolix and occasionally affecting rumination on the state of Egypt—its society, culture, history and politics—pegged to the maddening bureaucracy of the archive.—
Kapil Komireddi,
WSJ,
12 Mar. 2023
Adjective
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Bassin and Winter tend to be the most talkative; the drummer is blunt and boisterous, the singer more measured with both his sincerity and sarcasm.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
26 Aug. 2025
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That of course was not unusual, but what was unusual was how talkative this man had been.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Quaid, who portrayed the imposing Cousin Eddie in the movie, said that Chase had trouble memorizing his dialogue while filming a particularly verbose breakdown scene near the climax of the film.—
Wesley Stenzel,
EW.com,
31 Aug. 2025
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But Schwarber's teammate, Nick Castellanos — who joined the Phillies on a $100 million deal after playing for two seasons with the Reds — was more verbose about Schwarber potentially joining his hometown team.—
Peter Chawaga,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The actress stepped out in New York City wearing a pair of retro-inspired, deep blue flare jeans with exaggerated bell hems.—
Jamie Allison Sanders,
PEOPLE,
5 Sep. 2025
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Wrangler Retro High-Rise Trumpet Flare Jeans For a more statement-making option, try these Wrangler jeans with an exaggerated trumpet flare.—
Clara McMahon,
People.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The rest of my twenties were a very circuitous adventure.—
R29 Team,
Refinery29,
1 Sep. 2025
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While these reflections offer some useful context to Carroll, this circuitous plotting is distracting.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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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
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Davis is a magnetic front man, and the Roadhouse Band is an intoxicatingly raucous live outfit, but the constraints of the setup suited his new material, which is suffused with listlessness and yearning, dark jokes and wordy disquisitions on desire.—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
14 July 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Circumlocutory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumlocutory. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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