wordy
Americanadjective
-
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
-
pertaining to or consisting of words; verbal.
adjective
-
using, inclined to use, or containing an excess of words
a wordy writer
a wordy document
-
of the nature of or relating to words; verbal
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of wordy
First recorded before 1100; Middle English; Old English wordig. See word, -y 1
Vocabulary lists containing wordy
Language and Grammar - High School
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Language and Grammar - Middle School
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -y
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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.
Users — especially those who made the switch to Claude — have recently slammed the app for being unnecessarily wordy and preachy in tone.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026
That wordy definition has long been a source of legal debate.
From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026
A lay reader may find this wordy description difficult to grasp.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025
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.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2025
The music from the settlement stays the same, messy and wordy and bending around itself like a monkey.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
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.
