Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective verbose differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of verbose are diffuse, prolix, and wordy. While all these words mean "using more words than necessary to express thought," verbose suggests a resulting dullness, obscurity, or lack of incisiveness or precision.

the verbose position papers

When can diffuse be used instead of verbose?

The words diffuse and verbose can be used in similar contexts, but diffuse stresses lack of compactness and pointedness of style.

diffuse memoirs that are so many shaggy-dog stories

When would prolix be a good substitute for verbose?

The meanings of prolix and verbose largely overlap; however, prolix suggests unreasonable and tedious dwelling on details.

habitually transformed brief anecdotes into prolix sagas

When might wordy be a better fit than verbose?

Although the words wordy and verbose have much in common, wordy may also imply loquaciousness or garrulity.

a wordy speech

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 verbose So, Soul gravitated to the most verbose, formalist, showily technical music available to him. Paul Thompson, Rolling Stone, 12 Dec. 2022 Their conversations — facetious, verbose, skittish — propel the narrative, reveal their personalities and betray their intentions. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Oct. 2022 Truss is far less colorful, less verbose than her former backslapping boss — perhaps in a good way. William Booth, Washington Post, 5 Sep. 2022 Either way, The Lowdown finds Harjo dipping into pleasantly familiar reservoirs of fiction in which the protagonists know how to take a constant beating, the malefactors are all suspiciously verbose and ostentatious hats abound. Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019 See All Example Sentences for verbose
Recent Examples of Synonyms for verbose
Adjective
  • 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
  • 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
  • Harjo understands better than all but a few of his star’s previous collaborators how to weaponize Hawke’s gift for playing talkative dirtbags who are equal parts insufferable and charming.
    Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2025
  • 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
  • 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
Adjective
  • Anders is also very wordy, and subtitles can only capture maybe 30 percent of it.
    Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2025
  • 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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Cite this Entry

“Verbose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/verbose. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.

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