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
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Example Sentences
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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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prolix
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
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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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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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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
Cite this Entry
“Prolix.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prolix. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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