PROLIX Synonyms: 57 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the adjective 'prolix' differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of prolix are diffuse , verbose , and wordy . While all these words mean "using more words than necessary to express thought," prolix suggests unreasonable and tedious dwelling on details. // habitually transformed brief anecdotes into prolix sagas

Q: When might 'diffuse' be a better fit than 'prolix'?

The words diffuse and prolix are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, diffuse stresses lack of compactness and pointedness of style. // diffuse memoirs that are so many shaggy-dog stories

Q: Where would 'verbose' be a reasonable alternative to 'prolix'?

The synonyms verbose and prolix are sometimes interchangeable, but verbose suggests a resulting dullness, obscurity, or lack of incisiveness or precision. // the verbose position papers

Q: In what contexts can 'wordy' take the place of 'prolix'?

The words wordy and prolix can be used in similar contexts, but wordy may also imply loquaciousness or garrulity. // a wordy speech

prolix

adjective

prō-ˈliks

Definition of prolix next

as in rambling

using or containing more words than necessary to express an idea a person known for habitually transforming brief anecdotes into prolix sagas that exhaust their listeners

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How does the adjective prolix differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of prolix are diffuse, verbose, and wordy. While all these words mean "using more words than necessary to express thought," prolix suggests unreasonable and tedious dwelling on details.

habitually transformed brief anecdotes into prolix sagas

When might diffuse be a better fit than prolix?

The words diffuse and prolix are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, diffuse stresses lack of compactness and pointedness of style.

diffuse memoirs that are so many shaggy-dog stories

Where would verbose be a reasonable alternative to prolix?

The synonyms verbose and prolix are sometimes interchangeable, but verbose suggests a resulting dullness, obscurity, or lack of incisiveness or precision.

the verbose position papers

In what contexts can wordy take the place of prolix?

The words wordy and prolix can be used in similar contexts, but wordy may also imply loquaciousness or garrulity.

a wordy speech

Examples Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of prolix Words, including those of artists themselves—as prolix in their way as critics, curators, and historians—can serve vision but can also deflect from it. —

Barry Schwabsky, ARTnews.com, 3 Sep. 2019 In 1949, a young American artist named Ray Johnson left Black Mountain College near Asheville, N.C., moved to New York City and began to explore his prolix talents, both visual and verbal. —

Roberta Smith, New York Times, 30 May 2024 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 A certain type of actor thrives in these prolix circumstances. —

Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2021 His answer is this book: a laudably sincere, exasperatingly prolix and occasionally affecting rumination on the state of Egypt—its society, culture, history and politics—pegged to the maddening bureaucracy of the archive. —

Kapil Komireddi, WSJ, 12 Mar. 2023 Most books and essays published these days are too long: gummed up with adjectives and pointless asides, laden with prolix displays of expertise. —

Barton Swaim, WSJ, 19 Sep. 2022 There’s a hypnotic quality to this freewheeling central section, a sustained charge that falters in some of the more prolix passages around it. —

David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Sep. 2022 Ames’s ruminations on the soul are prolix, philosophical, and profoundly sad. —

Hermione Lee, The New York Review of Books, 22 Oct. 2020

Recent Examples of Synonyms for prolix

Adjective

There is more than 178 feet of beach and ocean frontage, which can be accessed via a rambling wooden staircase.

Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 5 Nov. 2024
Some, of course, will find this style of writing off-putting and too rambling or the prose verging on purple, the narrative perhaps not story-driven enough.

Erik Kain, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024