verbosity

American  

[ver-bos-i-tee] / vərˈbɒs ɪ ti /

noun

1. the state or quality of being verbose; superfluity of words; wordiness.

   His speeches were always marred by verbosity.

   Synonyms:

   turgidity, redundancy, prolixity

   Antonyms:

   pithiness, terseness

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Other Word Forms

• nonverbosity noun

Etymology

Origin of verbosity

From the Late Latin word verbōsitās, dating back to 1535–45. See verbose, -ity

Explanation

Verbosity is a quality possessed by people who talk a lot while saying very little at all. The root verb — also seen in verbal — is a clue this word has to do with talking. Specifically, verbosity is the quality of gabbing and blabbing at length. That might sound like a talent, and it sort of is, but usually the words are a bit empty. You could be accused of verbosity if you like to exaggerate or wax poetic. Most of the time, verbosity is empty talk — a whole lot of nothing dressed up in too many words.

Example Sentences

Bronner inherited his verbosity and gumption from his grandfather, Emanuel Bronner, who originally crammed all-caps, feel-good credos onto the labels of his soap bottles in the 1940s.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

The previous record-holder was President Clinton, famously known for his Southern-twang verbosity.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2026

Its sportscasters are more judicious with their verbosity this time around too.

From Salon • Aug. 9, 2024

It will also let developers decide their AI's style of tone and verbosity.

From Reuters • Mar. 15, 2023

I seek now to get back to the utmost simplicity of expression, to disuse the verbosity I tried so hard to acquire, to get the grit of compact, clear truth, if possible, informal and direct.

From The Style Book of The Detroit News by News, The Detroit