circumlocutory

adjective

Definition of circumlocutorynext
as in rambling
using or containing more words than necessary to express an idea the studio's statement that "the film's earnings did not live up to expectations" was a circumlocutory admission that the movie was a flop

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumlocutory
  1. rambling
  2. prolix
  3. talkative
  4. verbose
  5. circuitous
  6. exaggerated
  7. wordy
Adjective
  • Honeysuckle The warm, heady, floral scent of honeysuckle, which is strongest at dusk, is instantly recognizable, and the romantically rambling vines and tubular blooms make the climbing varieties cottage-garden classics.
    — Gemma Johnstone, The Spruce, 22 June 2026
  • Vocals have an offhand nonchalance instead of hogging the spotlight, melodies sneak up on you rather than announce themselves, and the guitars avoid crunchy riffs and overdriven twang in favor of tart rambling and clean supporting chords.
    — Reed Jackson, SPIN, 19 June 2026
Definition of rambling
Adjective
  • Even the blandest overtures can whip him into a frantic, pornographic, prolix ecstasy.
    — Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2026
  • The album is a concise, 10-song set, a deliberate contrast to prolix streaming-era albums like the ones released lately by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
    — Jon Pareles, New York Times, 17 May 2024
Definition of prolix
Adjective
  • The great speculators became talkative and communicative or dull, sullen, silent, and peevish.
    — Owen Lamont, Fortune, 2 July 2026
  • Doing this kind of work with other talkative animals, such as dolphins, would be much more difficult.
    — Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 26 June 2026
Definition of talkative
Adjective
  • Joining the verbose frontman in the lineup are guitarist Matt Douglas and drummer Jon Wurster, as expected, but not Peter Hughes, who left the band in 2024 after 30 years.
    — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 25 June 2026
  • Lunny quickly follows up her verbose stance with an apology.
    — Selena Fragassi, SPIN, 16 June 2026
Definition of verbose
Adjective
  • When Last Chance Grade is closed, the only alternative route between Crescent City and the little town of Klamath 20 miles south — aside from steep, unpaved logging roads — is a circuitous 449-mile, eight-hour detour through Redding and southern Oregon.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2026
  • Unlike an iPhone software update, which just involves going to Settings and choosing Software Update, the route here is a little more circuitous.
    — David Phelan, Forbes.com, 18 June 2026
Definition of circuitous
Adjective
  • In the clip, the robot performs exaggerated, erratic movements, raising its arms into a martial arts-style fighting stance before lunging toward people around it.
    — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 5 July 2026
  • There were new rules announced pre-tournament to minimise timewasting via exaggerated injuries or via substitutions.
    — Adam Crafton, New York Times, 5 July 2026
Definition of exaggerated
Adjective
  • Some card descriptions are a bit wordy, forcing pauses to reread during your first attempts.
    — Jason Bennett, Arkansas Online, 28 June 2026
  • Here are the full tiebreaker rules from FIFA for teams that have the same number of points following their three group stage matches (plus a quick translation for a couple of the wordier tiebreakers).
    — Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 19 June 2026
Definition of wordy
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

circumlocution
circumlocutory
circumnavigate
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Circumlocutory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumlocutory. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All