1
as in rambling
using or containing more words than necessary to express an idea
her writing style is far too wordy for my tastes
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2
as in rhetoric
of or relating to words or language
the neighborhood dispute escalated into a wordy war conducted through angry letters to the editor in the local paper
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Recent Examples of wordy
Though some critics at the time were exasperated by having to read such a big, wordy book, The Times selected it as one of the best books of the year.
—
Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 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
Payton has said, both with Nix and Russell Wilson before, that the main point of the band is to shorten some of the wordiest play calls.
—Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post, 4 Mar. 2025
A week after the Succession alum made a throwaway joke about a certain someone's wordy speeches, Adrien Brody broke the record for longest Oscars acceptance speech.
—EW.com, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wordy
Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 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
Payton has said, both with Nix and Russell Wilson before, that the main point of the band is to shorten some of the wordiest play calls.
—Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post, 4 Mar. 2025
A week after the Succession alum made a throwaway joke about a certain someone's wordy speeches, Adrien Brody broke the record for longest Oscars acceptance speech.
—EW.com, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wordy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wordy
Adjective
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The final part is a rather rambling segment philosophizing on proof of the afterlife—in line with dozens of similar texts from this era of psychical research.—
Alice Vernon
September 8,
Literary Hub,
8 Sep. 2025
-
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
Adjective
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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
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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
-
First-term presidential adviser Steve Bannon said Bessent and Elon Musk had a verbal confrontation that turned into a scuffle earlier this year.—
Sarah Fortinsky,
The Hill,
8 Sep. 2025
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A day after Tart, 28, decided to hit Kelce, 35, in his facemask during the Chargers' 27-21 win, Tart took a verbal jab at the tight end on Instagram.—
Skyler Caruso,
People.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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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
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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
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The film casted exclusively from theater groups across different states to represent the linguistic diversity found in Indian prisons.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
6 Sep. 2025
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The right is being horrifyingly plain in bleating their bigotry, but they’re also lost in linguistic obscurities.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The issue is that when touch is used purely for stimulation, this deeper communicative function is often overlooked.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
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Making sure leaders are accessible and communicative doesn’t end after onboarding.—
Roula Amire,
Fortune,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wordy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wordy. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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