verbiage

American  

[vur-bee-ij] / ˈvɜr bi ɪdʒ /

noun

1. overabundance or superfluity of words, as in writing or speech; wordiness; verbosity.

2. manner or style of expressing something in words; wording.

   a manual of official verbiage.

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verbiage British  

/ ˈvɜːbɪɪdʒ /

noun

1. the excessive and often meaningless use of words; verbosity

2. rare diction; wording

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Etymology

Origin of verbiage

First recorded in 1715–25; from French, from Middle French verbi(er) “to gabble” (also guerbloier, verboier, werbler, with a change in spelling by association with verbe “word,” from Germanic; see verb, warble ¹ ( def. )) + -age -age

Explanation

Verbiage is what it sounds like — a lot of words: verbs, nouns, adjectives and all the other parts of speech. Usually, verbiage means a few too many words — like the excessive verbiage in a legal document. Verbiage comes from the 18th-century French verbier, meaning "to chatter." Verbiage can mean just the words being used to communicate, or a bunch of empty words used to obscure communication. Someone long-winded might receive a sarcastic "compliment" about his verbiage, while another speaker might receive genuine applause for intelligent verbiage, or choice of words.

Example Sentences

So little of Mr. Carlson’s recent verbiage bears scrutiny that I’m left to wonder what it’s all about.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025

“If you had that document with that exact verbiage issued by a CEO of a publicly traded company, they would be charged with fraud in two seconds. That is insider trading.”

From BBC • Nov. 20, 2024

It's very mindful and very demure, one might say using TikTok verbiage.

From Salon • Oct. 11, 2024

“I don’t think the verbiage is necessarily a part of the issue,” Bieniemy said.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2024

An important principle in composition is that the amount of verbiage one devotes to a point should not be too far out of line with how central it is to the argument.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker