as in rambling
using or containing more words than necessary to express an idea
his long-winded explanation could have been boiled down to two sentences
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in wordiness
the use of too many words to express an idea
that professor's long-windedness has long been legendary on campus
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of long-winded
Steve Madeley, The Athletic, 14 Mar. 2025
That's an extremely long-winded way of saying that the Spore Drive allows a starship to miraculously materialize somewhere else light-years away.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 14 Mar. 2025
Commit to the vocal rest and skip the long-winded interviews.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025
Cut the fluff and long-winded explications, which dilute the message and reach the point.
—Jason Walker Psyd, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025
Which is all a long-winded way of saying that whilst Bayern's recent form has been very disappointing, there is hope.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, The Athletic, 18 Feb. 2025
Routh reportedly gave long-winded answers that didn’t directly address the questions.
—Louis Casiano, Fox News, 12 Feb. 2025
After a few long-winded speeches, the storied Tropicana Hotel is being imploded!
—R29 Team, refinery29.com, 10 Feb. 2025
Ask Why Leaders and their teams are exhausted after long-winded meetings.
—Stacey Hanke, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
Adjective
All of this is a vaguely long-winded way of making a simple point — the outlook for Wolves’ defence has changed dramatically over the course of this season.
—Steve Madeley, The Athletic, 14 Mar. 2025
That's an extremely long-winded way of saying that the Spore Drive allows a starship to miraculously materialize somewhere else light-years away.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 14 Mar. 2025
Commit to the vocal rest and skip the long-winded interviews.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025
Cut the fluff and long-winded explications, which dilute the message and reach the point.
—Jason Walker Psyd, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025
Which is all a long-winded way of saying that whilst Bayern's recent form has been very disappointing, there is hope.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, The Athletic, 18 Feb. 2025
Routh reportedly gave long-winded answers that didn’t directly address the questions.
—Louis Casiano, Fox News, 12 Feb. 2025
After a few long-winded speeches, the storied Tropicana Hotel is being imploded!
—R29 Team, refinery29.com, 10 Feb. 2025
Ask Why Leaders and their teams are exhausted after long-winded meetings.
—Stacey Hanke, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for long-winded
Adjective
-
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
Noun
-
Thoughtful repetition and use of neutrals keep his rooms calm and inviting.—
Eleni N. Gage,
Better Homes & Gardens,
14 May 2025
-
For example, some parents may wonder if these behaviors are related to things like stimming (repetitive movement or sounds), echolalia (meaningless repetition of words), or self-regulation behaviors.—
Wendy Wisner,
Parents,
12 May 2025
Noun
-
Coogler can let his characters’ verbosity get the better of story momentum.—
Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2025
-
Still, the challenge lies in managing the explosive verbosity that modern tools enable effortlessly.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes,
24 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The decision to scrap the AI diffusion rule, on the other hand, is a helpful one in the short run — reflected by Nvidia’s 3% pop in the final hour of trading Wednesday.—
Kevin Stankiewicz,
CNBC,
8 May 2025
-
The trip coincides with the enforcement deadline for the AI diffusion rule—a regulation introduced in late 2024 aimed at preventing sensitive chip technology from reaching adversarial nations or being rerouted through Gulf countries.—
Jesus Mesa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 May 2025
Noun
-
On their website, the three yellow stripes are prominently featured on the website under the Black Lives Matter wordage, and used on their social media accounts.—
Amritpal Kaur Sandhu-Longoria,
USA TODAY,
29 Mar. 2023
-
Reached by the Union-Tribune Wednesday morning, Lindsey differed with McGillis’ wordage.—
Don Norcross,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
22 Mar. 2023
Noun
-
Here, instead, she’s swayed by a dead Diana softly squeezing her hand and kindly hinting — the dead Diana is an ace at tactful circumlocution — that now is the time to show a mourning nation some emotion.—
Tom Gliatto,
Peoplemag,
16 Nov. 2023
-
By condensing Balzac’s opus to a few paragraphs, Barthelme was having a laugh not just at his predecessor’s genteel circumlocution—his tendency to describe buildings and manufacturing procedures and family trees in lavish detail—but also at the conventions of novelistic mimesis itself.—
Giles Harvey,
The New York Review of Books,
23 Apr. 2020
Noun
-
Just as the limitless space of web text tempts writers to indulge their logorrhea, the blinking, ever-transmuting, cartoonish interface of web browsers prevents would-be readers from paying attention to anything for longer than about 7 seconds.—
Barton Swaim,
WSJ,
19 Sep. 2022
-
Nor has Musk kept his Twitter logorrhea in check in other respects.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Long-winded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/long-winded. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share