verbiage

[vur-bee-ij]

noun

1. overabundance or superfluity of words, as in writing or speech; wordiness; verbosity.

2. manner or style of expressing something in words; wording.

   a manual of official verbiage.

verbiage

/ ˈvɜːbɪɪdʒ /

noun

1. the excessive and often meaningless use of words; verbosity

2. rare,  diction; wording

Word History and Origins

Origin of verbiage¹

First recorded in 1715–25; from French, from Middle French verbi(er) “to gabble” (also guerbloier, verboier, werbler, with a change in spelling by association with verbe “word,” from Germanic; verb, warble ¹ ( def. ) ) + -age -age

Word History and Origins

Origin of verbiage¹

C18: from French, from Old French verbier to chatter, from verbe word, from Latin verbum

Example Sentences

Still, “moving forward, in all honesty, I’ve even thought to myself recently how much of my verbiage will now change because of this disaster.”

From Los Angeles Times

Even if its repetitive verbiage drove parents a little mad?

From Los Angeles Times

In a devastating scene, she lets him down about potentially starting a spa with him, using the same verbiage that Tanya used with her in Season 1.

From Salon

From her arrest to her execution, something about Barbara Graham inspired frenzied verbiage from the journalists of the era.

From Los Angeles Times

Ms Spielman accuses the education secretary of using "polished verbiage and jazz hands" when announcing policies, and claimed some policies had been "influenced by education union leaders and activists".

From BBC