prolixity

[ proh-lik-si-tee ]
See synonyms for prolixity on Thesaurus.com
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.

Origin of prolixity

1
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”; see prolix
  • Rarely pro·lix·ness [proh-liks-nis] /proʊˈlɪks nɪs/ .

Other words from prolixity

  • o·ver·pro·lix·i·ty, noun

Words Nearby prolixity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use prolixity in a sentence