wordy
Americanadjective
-
characterized by or given to the use of many, or too many, words; verbose.
She grew impatient at his wordy reply.
- Synonyms:
- voluble, loquacious, talkative, diffuse
-
pertaining to or consisting of words; verbal.
adjective
-
using, inclined to use, or containing an excess of words
a wordy writer
a wordy document
-
of the nature of or relating to words; verbal
Related Words
Wordy, prolix, redundant, pleonastic all mean using more words than necessary to convey a desired meaning. Wordy, the broadest and least specific of these terms, may, in addition to indicating an excess of words, suggest a garrulousness or loquaciousness: a wordy, gossipy account of a simple incident. Prolix refers to speech or writing extended to great and tedious length with inconsequential details: a prolix style that tells you more than you need or want to know. Redundant and pleonastic both refer to unnecessary repetition of language. Redundant has also a generalized sense of “excessive” or “no longer needed”: the dismissal of redundant employees. In describing language, it most often refers to overelaboration through the use of expressions that repeat the sense of other expressions in a passage: a redundant text crammed with amplifications of the obvious. Pleonastic, usually a technical term, refers most often to expressions that repeat something that has been said before: “A true fact” and “a free gift” are pleonastic expressions.
Other Word Forms
- wordily adverb
- wordiness noun
Etymology
Origin of wordy
First recorded before 1100; Middle English; Old English wordig. See word, -y 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Users — especially those who made the switch to Claude — have recently slammed the app for being unnecessarily wordy and preachy in tone.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026
That wordy definition has long been a source of legal debate.
From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026
Shaffer succeeds in this regard, but the wordy play grows cumbersome in its final explanatory stages.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026
A lay reader may find this wordy description difficult to grasp.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025
The Russians may or may not have been able to read the wordy message, written in English, from their moving car.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
