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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In the past several years, Edge had filed a string of civil lawsuits with rambling, sometimes conspiratorial claims.—
Zoe Sottile,
CNN Money,
28 Sep. 2025 -
Kiehne was frustrated with the Joneses because the county government wouldn’t grade the dirt road up to his ranch, a rambling territory along the New Mexico border.—
Mitch Moxley,
Rolling Stone,
27 Sep. 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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In this Pixar staple, elderly widower Carl sets off on an adventure to fulfill his late wife’s dream, only to be accompanied by an eager Boy Scout and an annoyingly talkative dog.—
Jenna Ryu,
SELF,
16 Sep. 2025
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After all, for seven seasons, Graham and Bledel starred as the unstoppable (and oh-so-talkative) mother-daughter duo of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, the two besties at the center of Stars Hollow, a small Connecticut town with a very big personality.—
Samantha Highfill,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Instead, Reeves became Estragon, the more simplistic and long-suffering of the duo, while Winter tackled Vladimir, the more commanding and verbose character.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
1 Oct. 2025
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Director Richard Linklater is fond of a verbose protagonist; Hawke and Julie Delpy gabbed through three films’ worth of Before movies, after all.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
16 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Viktor & Rolf played with exaggerated pointed collars and shorts with built in denim jackets tied around the waist.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
17 Oct. 2025
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Midler joked to Colbert in an exaggerated pleading tone.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Iza’s path into this world was circuitous.—
Jesse Hyde,
Rolling Stone,
21 Oct. 2025
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Instead, Putin faces flying a longer, circuitous route via Turkey to Hungary.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Max went back to its original name, HBO Max, while Paramount+ renamed its wordy Paramount+ With Showtime tier to Paramount+ Premium.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
14 Oct. 2025
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Anders is also very wordy, and subtitles can only capture maybe 30 percent of it.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Circumlocutory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumlocutory. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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