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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Refine your key points to be clear and concise—no rambling monologues.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
15 Apr. 2025 -
In the early morning hours of Dec. 26, 1996, Patsy Ramsey called 911 to report her 6-year-old daughter JonBenét missing, and found a rambling ransom note left inside their Boulder, Colorado, home.—
Erin Moriarty,
CBS News,
20 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Words, including those of artists themselves—as prolix in their way as critics, curators, and historians—can serve vision but can also deflect from it.—
Barry Schwabsky,
ARTnews.com,
3 Sep. 2019
-
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
Adjective
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There were also happier times, including winning the FA Cup in 2014 and 2015 and two Community Shield trophies, with an extremely talkative Arteta alongside him in midfield.—
Dermot Corrigan,
The Athletic,
16 Jan. 2025
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Finney-Smith has become one of the team’s most talkative players and a consistent source of energy.—
Dan Woike,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The lawmaker said that the usable speech only came after four or five prompts that generated unusable material, either too verbose or oddly phrased, an illustration of how important the input into the AI is to the result.—
Globe Staff,
BostonGlobe.com,
25 Jan. 2023
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The verbose coach was at somewhat of a loss for words, opting to forgo opening remarks in his postgame press conference and instead diving right into questions.—
Tom Green | tgreen@al.com,
al,
18 Jan. 2023
Adjective
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Misleading claims or exaggerated job benefits could backfire and lead to reputational damage.—
Anthony Milewski,
Forbes.com,
28 Apr. 2025
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Each thing serves as the cartoonishly exaggerated marker of an identity: berserker populist patriot, effete rich man, savvy dealmaker.—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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This time, even though their starting pitcher took a circuitous route to his three outs, the Padres held that lead after the entire inning had been played.—
Kevin Acee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Apr. 2025
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The circuitous route is way more spectator-friendly than the Tour de France course.—
Frederick Dreier,
Outside Online,
2 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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In the clip, Harris gave a wordy answer when asked about Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Apr. 2025
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Though some critics at the time were exasperated by having to read such a big, wordy book, The Times selected it as one of the best books of the year.—
Carolyn Kellogg,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Circumlocutory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumlocutory. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
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