Synonyms of prolix

prolix

adjective

prō-ˈliks 

as in rambling

using or containing more words than necessary to express an idea

a person known for habitually transforming brief anecdotes into prolix sagas that exhaust their listeners

Synonyms & Similar Words

• rambling
• talkative
• verbose
• wordy
• exaggerated
• pleonastic
• circuitous
• long-winded
• garrulous
• redundant
• diffuse
• communicative
• circumlocutory
• conversational
• logorrheic
• loquacious
• windy
• voluble
• repetitious
• talky
• chatty
• tautological
• periphrastic
• tautologous
• bombastic
• gaseous
• gabby
• grandiloquent
• gassy
• embroidered
• embellished
• highfalutin

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• concise
• succinct
• pithy
• terse
• compact
• brief
• short
• crisp
• epigrammatic
• summary
• sententious
• abbreviated
• aphoristic
• condensed
• abridged
• blunt
• laconic
• abrupt
• compendious
• curt
• brusque
• shortened
• snippy

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective prolix differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of prolix are diffuse, verbose, and wordy. While all these words mean "using more words than necessary to express thought," prolix suggests unreasonable and tedious dwelling on details.

habitually transformed brief anecdotes into prolix sagas

When might diffuse be a better fit than prolix?

The words diffuse and prolix are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, diffuse stresses lack of compactness and pointedness of style.

diffuse memoirs that are so many shaggy-dog stories

Where would verbose be a reasonable alternative to prolix?

The synonyms verbose and prolix are sometimes interchangeable, but verbose suggests a resulting dullness, obscurity, or lack of incisiveness or precision.

the verbose position papers

In what contexts can wordy take the place of prolix?

The words wordy and prolix can be used in similar contexts, but wordy may also imply loquaciousness or garrulity.

a wordy speech

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of prolix

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

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

There’s a hypnotic quality to this freewheeling central section, a sustained charge that falters in some of the more prolix passages around it. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Sep. 2022

A certain type of actor thrives in these prolix circumstances. —Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2021

Ames’s ruminations on the soul are prolix, philosophical, and profoundly sad. —Hermione Lee, The New York Review of Books, 22 Oct. 2020

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

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