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
Relevance
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
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 prolix
Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2026
Ronald, who with his shock of white hair and prolix tendencies comes off like a frazzled professor, keeps to a more limited circuit writing out of his house and his office.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2026
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
A certain type of actor thrives in these prolix circumstances.
—Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2021
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
Adjective
Even the blandest overtures can whip him into a frantic, pornographic, prolix ecstasy.
—Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2026
Ronald, who with his shock of white hair and prolix tendencies comes off like a frazzled professor, keeps to a more limited circuit writing out of his house and his office.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2026
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
A certain type of actor thrives in these prolix circumstances.
—Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2021
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
-
The book displays a gift for confident, if rambling, storytelling, and the details pile up convincingly.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Mar. 2026
-
Turan lives in a co-op called Base Camp, a rambling four-story Victorian that houses 14 other tech workers who spend their days at OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google’s DeepMind.—
Joe Hagan,
Vanity Fair,
18 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The series’ ad nauseam repetition, its pat dialogue laying bare its themes and episode titles reaffirming those ideas, feel like a desperate, and ultimately failed, attempt to prove to us — or maybe to itself — that Imperfect Women actually has something enlightening to say.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Go out, get reps, get repetitions.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Vargas, equal parts talkative and professionally restrained, started by examining my every pore under a light.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Other talkative breeds include the oriental shorthair, the Balinese, the Japanese bobtail, the Tonkinese, the Burmese, the sphynx, and the Bengal.—
Joan Morris,
Mercury News,
9 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Today hosts a gentle Moon-Chiron trine, empowering your friendly 11th house and your verbose 3rd house.—
Tarot.com,
Hartford Courant,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Styles speak-sings over cascading keyboards in his most verbose song on the album, which is also his most musically stimulating.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The previous record-holder was President Clinton, famously known for his Southern-twang verbosity.—
Seema Mehta,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2026
-
This working prompt injection came only after much trial and error, explaining the verbosity and the detail in it.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Conrad is full of wordy comic dialogue that often sings in its idiosyncrasy but also elicits little more than a chuckle.—
Andy Andersen,
Vulture,
9 Mar. 2026
-
During a Moon-Pluto trine with Luna in your connected 7th house and Pluto in your wordy 3rd house, you’re called to strengthen your agreements through open dialogue.—
Tarot.com,
Hartford Courant,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The repetitiveness of the plot is not helped by the many montages writer-director Yandy Laurens uses as shortcuts, instead of writing scenes that show how the central relationship is developing.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
15 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Flatulent describes inflated, pretentious writing; garrulity describes excessive talkativeness.—
Gary Gilson,
Star Tribune,
31 Oct. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Prolix.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prolix. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
