If you refer to someone's speech or writing as verbiage, you are critical of them because they use too many words, which makes their speech or writing difficult to understand.
[formal, disapproval]
Many mission statements are nothing but empty verbiage.
Synonyms: verbosity, repetition, tautology, redundancy More Synonyms of verbiage
verbiage in British English
(ˈvɜːbɪɪdʒ)
noun
1.
the excessive and often meaningless use of words; verbosity
2. rare
diction; wording
Word origin
C18: from French, from Old French verbier to chatter, from verbe word, from Latin verbum
verbiage in American English
(ˈvɜrbiˌɪdʒ)
noun
1.
an excess of words beyond those needed to express concisely what is meant; wordiness
2.
style of expression; diction
Word origin
Fr < OFr verbier, to speak, chatter < verbe: see verb
Examples of 'verbiage' in a sentence
verbiage
He was exceptionally good at `doing" Prof. Williams, a myopic academic whose sermons were couched in florid verbiage.
Secombe, Fred GOODBYE CURATE (2001)
`Saying nothing with a lot of verbiage ," Angus ground out.
Curzon, Clare THE QUEST FOR K (2001)
Perhaps now Hawthorne's genius will shine through all the verbiage.
Richard Wright 52449_CLARA (2001)
(noun)
Definition
the excessive use of words
His writing is full of pretentious and self-indulgent verbiage.
Synonyms
verbosity
the pedantry and verbosity of his public speeches
repetition
He could have cut much of the repetition and saved pages.
tautology
The tautology and circularity of this argument were swept aside.
redundancy
circumlocution
He is long-winded and prone to circumlocution in his public speeches.
prolixity
periphrasis
pleonasm
Additional synonyms
in the sense of circumlocution
Definition
an indirect expression
He is long-winded and prone to circumlocution in his public speeches.
Synonyms
indirectness,
redundancy,
euphemism,
beating about the bush (informal),
wordiness,
diffuseness,
prolixity,
discursiveness,
periphrasis
in the sense of pleonasm
Definition
an unnecessary word or phrase
Synonyms
verbosity,
redundancy,
repetition,
verbiage,
convolution,
tautology,
wordiness,
circumlocution,
periphrasis,
circuitousness
in the sense of repetition
Definition
a thing that is repeated
He could have cut much of the repetition and saved pages.
Synonyms
repeating,
redundancy,
replication,
duplication,
restatement,
iteration,
reiteration,
tautology,
recapitulation,
repetitiousness
Nearby words of
verbiage
verbal
verbally
verbatim
verbiage
verbose
verbosely
verbosity
Synonyms of 'verbiage'
verbiage
Explore 'verbiage' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of tautology
Definition
the use of words which merely repeat something already stated, as in reverse back
The tautology and circularity of this argument were swept aside.