Word of the Day

: June 16, 2025

garrulous

adjective GAIR-uh-lus

What It Means

Someone described as garrulous is very talkative. When garrulous is used to describe a piece of language (such as a speech), it means “containing many and often too many words; wordy.”

// One of the dinner party guests was a garrulous poet whose stories kept most of us in stitches.

// We tried our best to stay awake during the principal’s garrulous speech.

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garrulous in Context

“Verbosity [in Academy Awards acceptance speeches] became more of a problem with the advent of television coverage in the 1950s. As millions of viewers watched from around the world, actors and directors—also cinematographers, sound editors and costume designers—often lingered in the spotlight. The academy eventually instituted a 45-second time limit and directed the orchestra to play garrulous winners off stage.” — David Wharton, The Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024

Did You Know?

We all know someone who blabs, gabs, or even confabs a little longer than necessary. You might refer to such a person as a chatty Cathy, but “garrulous Gary” would also make a perfectly apt nom de guerre. Garrulous, after all, is a 17th century Latin borrowing that has its origin in garrīre, meaning “to chatter, talk rapidly.” That Latin root is probably imitative in origin—that is, it was coined to imitate what it refers to. English has a number of words that are imitative in origin, among them several others that can describe the actions of that one friend who does all the talking, such as babble and chatter.