rambling
adjective
ram·bling ˈram-b(ə-)liŋ 
1
: proceeding without a specific goal, purpose, or direction: such as
a
: wandering about from one place to another
a rambling walk
b
: straying from subject to subject
a rambling essay/discussion/discourse
a rambling talker
His text is at times repetitious and rambling.
Robert Howard
Robert Howard c
: stretching, spreading, or growing in a winding or irregular way
a rambling stream
rambling roses
2
: large and informally designed
a rambling farmhouse
… blue-tinged shots give the sinister prison … the air of a rambling edifice out of Dickens. Celia Wren
Celia Wren ramblingly adverb
a ramblingly told story
Synonyms
- desultory
- digressional
- digressionary
- digressive
- discursive
- excursive
- leaping
- maundering
- meandering
- wandering
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Word History
First Known Use
circa 1609, in the meaning defined at sense 1
rambling 1 of 3
adjective
1
as in wandering
passing from one topic to another I listened patiently to Mrs. Parsifal's rambling reminiscences, though I had no idea who "Dorothy" and "the stepson" were Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- wandering
- meandering
- digressive
- excursive
- leaping
- indirect
- discursive
- maundering
- roundabout
- desultory
- digressional
- digressionary
- deviating
- circuitous
- devious
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- coherent
- logical
- consistent
- focused
- direct
- straightforward
- focussed
- undeviating
2
as in wordy
using or containing more words than necessary to express an idea the new minister gives rambling sermons that, if they have a point, are lost on the congregation, which invariably falls asleep Synonyms & Similar Words
- wordy
- talkative
- prolix
- exaggerated
- long-winded
- verbose
- diffuse
- conversational
- circumlocutory
- redundant
- circuitous
- garrulous
- pleonastic
- communicative
- logorrheic
- windy
- talky
- loquacious
- repetitious
- gabby
- chatty
- voluble
- tautological
- bombastic
- tautologous
- periphrastic
- grandiloquent
- embellished
- gaseous
- gassy
- embroidered
- hifalutin
- highfalutin
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- pithy
- succinct
- concise
- short
- brief
- terse
- compact
- summary
- sententious
- crisp
- aphoristic
- epigrammatic
- compendious
- condensed
- blunt
- abbreviated
- laconic
- curt
- brusque
- abrupt
- snippy
- abridged
- shortened
- brusk
rambling
2 of 3noun
1
as in babbling
Synonyms & Similar Words
- babbling
- babble
- prattling
- prattle
- blabbing
- maundering
- jabbering
- gabbling
- gabble
- drivelling
- chattering
- driveling
- blab
- jabber
- chatter
- drivel
- whisper
- rumor
- muttering
- murmuring
- mumble
- grunting
- mutter
- undertone
- murmur
- grunt
2
as in digression
Synonyms & Similar Words
- digression
- tangent
- wordiness
- prolixity
- verbosity
- circularity
- diffuseness
- aside
- windiness
- excursus
- circumlocution
- excursion
- parenthesis
- circuitousness
- divagation
rambling
3 of 3verb
1
as in rattling
to talk at length without sticking to a topic or getting to a point the teenagers sat around the pizza parlor, rambling on about dating, homework, movies, and the local football team Synonyms & Similar Words
- rattling
- maundering
- wandering
- digressing
- going on
- blabbering
- chatting
- straying
- deviating
- running on
- sidetracking
- blathering (on)
- waffling
- blithering
- prattling
- running one's mouth
- blabbing
- jabbering
- burbling
- gabbling
- chattering
- gibbering
- prating
- drivelling
- driveling
- gabbing
- drooling
- bumbling
- pattering
2
as in roaming
to move about from place to place aimlessly by tirelessly rambling around San Francisco for a week we probably saw more of it than many residents ever have Synonyms & Similar Words
- wandering
- roaming
- meandering
- drifting
- strolling
- cruising
- floating
- maundering
- gallivanting
- ranging
- roving
- traipsing
- galavanting
- mooching
- ambling
- sauntering
- batting
- knocking (about)
- gadding (about)
- dawdling
- kicking around
- moping
- vagabonding
- straggling
- straying
- gypsying
- hoboing
- tramping
- milling (about or around)
3
as in strolling
to travel by foot for exercise or pleasure we're planning to ramble all over the highland moors when we're in Dartmoor Synonyms & Similar Words
- wandering
- strolling
- ambling
- walking
- sauntering
- hiking
- roaming
- tramping
- perambulating
- traversing
- roving
- traipsing
- marching
- trekking
- peregrinating
- tromping
- promenading
- power walking