prolixity

American  

[proh-lik-si-tee] / proʊˈlɪk sɪ ti /

Rarely prolixness

noun

1. the state or quality of being unnecessarily or tediously wordy; verbosity.

   The book offers food for thought but, for all its prolixity, fails to effectively explain what is at the core of irony as a rhetorical strategy.

2. a tendency to speak or write at great or tedious length.

   As a communicator, the official suffers from a lethal mix of ailments: terminal prolixity, rampant hyperbole, and a preference for bureaucratic jargon.

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Other Word Forms

• overprolixity noun

Etymology

Origin of prolixity

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French prolixité “lengthiness, verbosity,” from Late Latin prōlixitāt- (inflectional stem prōlixitās ) “tedious length in speech or writing,” from Latin: “extension in time or space”; prolix ( def. )

Explanation

If someone likes to talk but they're really boring, they've got prolixity. It's not something to be proud of. Prolixity means about the same thing as long-windedness. If someone is yammering on and on and on — that's an example of prolixity. Part of prolixity seems good: we'd all like to be able to put words together easily. On the other hand, none of us want to be boring. That's a major downside to prolixity. Prolixity is similar to "wordiness" — using too many words, or too many long words — when a few would get the job done.

Example Sentences

There is a problem, though, with prolixity and erudition.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

As with Anthony Burgess and John Updike, Roth’s astonishing prolixity exhausted even his most loyal readers.

From The Guardian • May 23, 2018

Editors attacked each other in the street, cursing each other with prolixity and backward-running sentences.

From Slate • Aug. 9, 2016

The dialogue on “The Heart, She Holler” buries bathroom humor in mock-Southern prolixity, and the show’s best gags achieve a sort of poetic absurdity that is equal parts Dada and Looney Tunes.

From New York Times • Aug. 30, 2013

I will only write, at present, of what befell in the conquest, and I will not write much, in order to avoid prolixity.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond