wordy

[wur-dee]

adjective

wordier, wordiest 

1. characterized by or given to the use of many, or too many, words; verbose.

   She grew impatient at his wordy reply.

   Synonyms: voluble, loquacious, talkative, diffuse

2. pertaining to or consisting of words; verbal.

wordy

/ ˈwɜːdɪ /

adjective

1. using, inclined to use, or containing an excess of words

   a wordy writer

   a wordy document

2. of the nature of or relating to words; verbal

Other Word Forms

• wordily adverb
• wordiness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of wordy¹

First recorded before 1100; Middle English; Old English wordig. See word, -y ¹

Synonym Study

Wordy, prolix, redundant, pleonastic all mean using more words than necessary to convey a desired meaning. Wordy, the broadest and least specific of these terms, may, in addition to indicating an excess of words, suggest a garrulousness or loquaciousness: a wordy, gossipy account of a simple incident. Prolix refers to speech or writing extended to great and tedious length with inconsequential details: a prolix style that tells you more than you need or want to know. Redundant and pleonastic both refer to unnecessary repetition of language. Redundant has also a generalized sense of “excessive” or “no longer needed”: the dismissal of redundant employees. In describing language, it most often refers to overelaboration through the use of expressions that repeat the sense of other expressions in a passage: a redundant text crammed with amplifications of the obvious. Pleonastic, usually a technical term, refers most often to expressions that repeat something that has been said before: “A true fact” and “a free gift” are pleonastic expressions.

Example Sentences

“Midnights,” from 2022, was a little moodier than 2024’s “The Tortured Poets Department,” which was a little wordier than its predecessor, but both operated within a relatively narrow template.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Of the three, Day’s was perhaps the most impressive since these kinds of “Update” appearance are usually wordy monologues.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Though some critics at the time were exasperated by having to read such a big, wordy book, The Times selected it as one of the best books of the year.

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In a clip of the interview broadcast on “Face the Nation,” Harris gave a wordy response.

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The film is so visually dense, so rapidly wordy, so referential to its own form, that details fly by in a blur.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• lengthy 
• long-winded 
• rambling 
• turgid