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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in repetition
the use of too many words to express an idea
prolixity is one of the worst offenses that a writer of any age can commit
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of prolix
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
The album is a concise, 10-song set, a deliberate contrast to prolix streaming-era albums like the ones released lately by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
—Jon Pareles, New York Times, 17 May 2024
A certain type of actor thrives in these prolix circumstances.
—Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2021
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
Most books and essays published these days are too long: gummed up with adjectives and pointless asides, laden with prolix displays of expertise.
—Barton Swaim, WSJ, 19 Sep. 2022
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
Ames’s ruminations on the soul are prolix, philosophical, and profoundly sad.
—Hermione Lee, The New York Review of Books, 22 Oct. 2020
Adjective
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
The album is a concise, 10-song set, a deliberate contrast to prolix streaming-era albums like the ones released lately by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
—Jon Pareles, New York Times, 17 May 2024
A certain type of actor thrives in these prolix circumstances.
—Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2021
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
Most books and essays published these days are too long: gummed up with adjectives and pointless asides, laden with prolix displays of expertise.
—Barton Swaim, WSJ, 19 Sep. 2022
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
Ames’s ruminations on the soul are prolix, philosophical, and profoundly sad.
—Hermione Lee, The New York Review of Books, 22 Oct. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prolix
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
-
Generally speaking, contract manufacturers thrive on predictability and repetition; their systems are typically built around lean principles optimized for HVLM.—
Scott Graybeal,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
-
For global and local players alike, the message is clear: competing in China now means playing by a different rulebook — one that values connection over conversion, responsiveness over repetition, and trust over transaction.—
Li Jun,
Footwear News,
28 June 2025
Adjective
-
Emily soon bonds with the talkative rebel, and their connection eventually blossoms into a full-on romance.—
James Mercadante,
EW.com,
8 June 2025
-
They are not injured, just very loud and talkative.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 June 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
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
Noun
-
But Sieh is the standout, emitting a complex blend of sardonic acceptance, cynical verbosity and submerged emotional longing.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2025
-
Coogler can let his characters’ verbosity get the better of story momentum.—
Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Getting this into English would be clunky and far too wordy to fit into Quino’s word bubbles.—
Lily Meyer,
The Dial,
20 May 2025
-
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
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
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Nor has Musk kept his Twitter logorrhea in check in other respects.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2022
Noun
-
This is a classic example of diffusion of responsibility, where leaders can wriggle out of being held accountable by pointing the finger elsewhere.—
Melissa A. Wheeler,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
-
His unorthodox policy views had a magnifying effect on major global trends that had been well underway before Trump was elected, including the global diffusion of power, rapid and disruptive technological change, and political polarization and policy volatility.—
REBECCA LISSNER,
Foreign Affairs,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Prolix.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prolix. Accessed 10 Jul. 2025.
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