rambling
Americanadjective
-
aimlessly wandering.
-
taking an irregular course; straggling.
a rambling brook.
-
spread out irregularly in various directions.
a rambling mansion.
-
straying from one subject to another; desultory.
a rambling novel.
- Synonyms:
- discursive
adjective
-
straggling or sprawling haphazardly; unplanned
a rambling old house
-
(of speech or writing) lacking a coherent plan; diffuse and disconnected
-
(of a plant, esp a rose) profusely climbing and straggling
-
nomadic; wandering
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rambling
Explanation
The adjective rambling means confused and long-winded, the way you could describe your grandfather's endless rambling stories of his childhood. Rambling always means indirect and a little confusing, which can be a negative quality in a classroom lecture or movie plot — but when you're talking about a path through the woods, rambling is a charming way to describe it. You might love to hike through the woods on rambling trails that twist and turn. Rambling comes from the verb ramble, "walk or stroll," which is a variant on the older verb romen, "to walk, or to go," and related to "roam."
Vocabulary lists containing rambling
Talk the Talk: Synonyms for "Wordy"
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One of Us Is Lying
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"The History Teacher" by Billy Collins
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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.
I sent him a rambling voice memo, trying to convey my bewilderment as best as I could.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Herb Alpert walks up a long driveway at his rambling Malibu estate, wincing slightly after having woken up around 3 a.m. with a cramp in his left calf.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
The book also compared the UK to a "rambling stately home" in which the power was only on in some rooms.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
“Every time we talked about the prospect of peace, the stock market shot up like a rocket ship,” he said during a long and at times rambling address.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
He was tugging at this ratty blue bathrobe, trying to cover his gut, but I was so revved up I just started rambling.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
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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.
