verbose
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See bombastic.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of verbose
1665–75; < Latin verbōsus, equivalent to verb ( um ) word + -ōsus -ose 1
Explanation
If you're verbose, you use far more words than you need to. A verbose book report goes on and on and is packed with long, complicated words that aren't at all necessary. If a friend asks, "Did you have fun at the party?" you can simply answer, "No." Or you can provide a verbose reply that describes just how much you hated the party, who was and wasn't there, the fact that you got lost on the way, the terrible food that was served, and the awful music that was played. Verbose is from Latin verbosus, "full of words," from verbum, "word or verb." As you can guess from the spelling, the English verb is closely related.
Vocabulary lists containing verbose
100 Words to Make You Sound Smart
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "V"
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Talk the Talk: Synonyms for "Wordy"
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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.
Anthropic’s own research revealed that tuning its Opus 4.7 model to be less verbose inadvertently resulted in a drop in coding intelligence.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 19, 2026
When oat milk was still largely a curiosity, Oatly made a name for itself with verbose, self-aware billboards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
She has used verbose phrases when speaking off the cuff, and while a few turns of phrase have been embraced by her supporters, opponents have often criticised her for a lack of clarity.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2024
He is very verbose and speaks in a certain way.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2024
While Lembede tended to imprecision and was inclined to be verbose, Mda was controlled and exact.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
