Wiktionary

verbiage

English

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Etymology

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From French verbiage. Compare verb meaning "word" in verbal.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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verbiage (countable and uncountable, plural verbiages)

  2. Overabundance of words.
    Synonyms: wordiness, verbosity, verboseness, long-windedness, prolixity; circumlocution; (uncommon) wordage, wordishness
    Coordinate term: sesquipedalianism
    bureaucratic verbiage
    We're done drafting our paper except for the final check to see whether any verbiage can be reduced.
    • 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 39:
      A very garrulous person, he approached the counter in a fog of verbiage.
  4. The manner in which something is expressed in words; word choice.
    Synonyms: wording; diction; wordage
    Near-synonyms: phrasing; terminology; phraseology
    In each article of this series, there is a paragraph on nutrition; the verbiage for it was developed by consensus among the section editors, and therefore no elective rewording should be done (by others) in any such paragraph.
    We're done drafting our paper except for the final verbiage on fire safety, which will be supplied by the safety engineers.
    • 1846, Margaret Thornley, The True End of Education and the Means Adapted to It:
      The comparison of coincidences in the verbiage of different languages, and affinity of etymological formation, are interesting subjects of philological investigation.
    • 1947, George S. Patton, War as I Knew It:
      Use concise military verbiage.

Usage notes

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Because of the pejorative connotation of the "superfluous words" sense of verbiage, for clarity it is often preferred to use wording, diction, phrasing, etc. to describe the manner in which something is expressed in words.

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Translations

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See also

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French

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Etymology

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From Middle French verbier -age.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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verbiage m (countable and uncountable, plural verbiages)

  1. verbiage
    Synonym: (colloquial) blablabla

Further reading

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