verbiage
Americannoun
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overabundance or superfluity of words, as in writing or speech; wordiness; verbosity.
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manner or style of expressing something in words; wording.
a manual of official verbiage.
noun
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the excessive and often meaningless use of words; verbosity
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rare diction; wording
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.
Vocabulary lists containing verbiage
Fahrenheit 451
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "V"
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Unit 2: Pivotal Words and Phrases
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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.
Philosophy has always had to defend itself against the charge that it is empty verbiage, unscientific speculation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 18, 2025
Still, before Bass left town, the regional branch of the National Weather Service was predicting critical fire conditions, verbiage that shifted to “extreme fire weather conditions” on Jan. 5.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2025
"It's more the voters within the party and the verbiage around human sexuality and gender."
From BBC • Oct. 14, 2024
It's very mindful and very demure, one might say using TikTok verbiage.
From Salon • Oct. 11, 2024
Pseudointellectuals spout obscure verbiage to hide the fact that they have nothing to say.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions 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.
