rambling

[ram-bling]

See more synonyms for rambling on Thesaurus.com

adjective

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.

Origin of rambling

First recorded in 1615–25; ramble + -ing²

Related formsram·bling·ly, adverbram·bling·ness, nounun·ram·bling, adjective

Synonyms

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4. discursive.

ramble

[ram-buhl]

verb (used without object), ram·bled, ram·bling.

to wander around in a leisurely, aimless manner: They rambled through the shops until closing time.
to take a course with many turns or windings, as a stream or path.
to grow in a random, unsystematic fashion: The vine rambled over the walls and tree trunks.
to talk or write in a discursive, aimless way (usually followed by on): The speaker rambled on with anecdote after anecdote.

verb (used with object), ram·bled, ram·bling.

to walk aimlessly or idly over or through: They spent the spring afternoon rambling woodland paths.

noun

a walk without a definite route, taken merely for pleasure.

Origin of ramble

First recorded in 1610–20; origin uncertain

Synonyms

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1. stroll, saunter, amble, stray, straggle. See roam.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for rambling

Contemporary Examples

In rambling posts, he called himself a loser, and wrote that he must be either bipolar or a psychopath.
School Shooters Love This Pickup Artist Website
Brandy Zadrozny
December 5, 2014
The rocker posted a rambling video on his Facebook page claiming he's broke and penniless.
Creed Singer Scott Stapp’s Fall From Grace: From 40 Million Albums Sold to Living in a Holiday Inn
Marlow Stern
November 27, 2014
After about one minute of rambling, a woman runs up on stage and directs someone to turn his microphone off.
White Supremacist Runs For Senate in Kentucky
Olivia Nuzzi
September 21, 2014
If I could sum it up in a few choice words, I would, but instead I hem and haw, before stumbling through some rambling rejoinder.
Fear And Self-Loathing In Scandinavia: The Fiction Of Karl Ove Knausgaard
Ted Gioia
May 28, 2014
Yet the show has gotten a deal of negative criticism for being inchoate, unselective, too rambling, and uneven.
A New Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum Puts a Modern Face on Chinese Art
Melik Kaylan
January 5, 2014

Historical Examples

We had to keep watch all last night over the horses to keep them from rambling.
Explorations in Australia
John Forrest
But this is rambling far from the momentous twenty-first of June, my day of triumph.
The Fortune Hunter
Louis Joseph Vance
A girl, a well born girl, rambling the woods all night with her fiancé!
The Innocent Adventuress
Mary Hastings Bradley
It was a rambling old place that seemed to have been cut out of a barn.
His Masterpiece
Emile Zola
He was lying hard on the place of his pain and rambling in delirium.
The Manxman
Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for rambling

rambling

adjective

straggling or sprawling haphazardly; unplanneda 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

ramble

verb (intr)

to stroll about freely, as for relaxation, with no particular direction
(of paths, streams, etc) to follow a winding course; meander
(of plants) to grow in a random fashion
(of speech, writing, etc) to lack organization

noun

a leisurely stroll, esp in the countryside

Word Origin

C17: probably related to Middle Dutch rammelen to roam (of animals); see ram

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for rambling

adj.

1623, present participle adjective from ramble (v.).

ramble

v.

mid-15c., perhaps frequentative of romen "to walk, go" (see roam), perhaps via romblen (late 14c.) "to ramble." The vowel change perhaps by influence of Middle Dutch rammelen, a derivative of rammen "copulate," "used of the night wanderings of the amorous cat" [Weekley]. Meaning "to talk or write incoherently" is from 1630s. Related: Rambled; rambling.

ramble

n.

"a roving or wandering," 1650s, from ramble (v.).

rambling

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Synonyms

ramble

Origin of ramble

Synonyms

Related Words

Examples from the Web for rambling

Contemporary Examples

In rambling posts, he called himself a loser, and wrote that he must be either bipolar or a psychopath.

The rocker posted a rambling video on his Facebook page claiming he's broke and penniless.

After about one minute of rambling, a woman runs up on stage and directs someone to turn his microphone off.

If I could sum it up in a few choice words, I would, but instead I hem and haw, before stumbling through some rambling rejoinder.

Yet the show has gotten a deal of negative criticism for being inchoate, unselective, too rambling, and uneven.

Historical Examples

We had to keep watch all last night over the horses to keep them from rambling.

But this is rambling far from the momentous twenty-first of June, my day of triumph.

A girl, a well born girl, rambling the woods all night with her fiancé!

It was a rambling old place that seemed to have been cut out of a barn.

He was lying hard on the place of his pain and rambling in delirium.

rambling

ramble

Word Origin

Word Origin and History for rambling

adj.

ramble

v.

ramble

n.

Origin of rambling