What Is Verbosity? | Meaning, Definition & Examples

Verbosity describes the tendency to be too wordy when writing or speaking. Verbose sentences or passages can be improved by making them shorter and simpler.

What is verbosity?

Verbosity comes from the Latin word verbosus, which means “wordy.” Verbosity is the noun formed from the adjective “verbose.”

Writing or speech that is verbose uses too many unnecessary words. It is often overly complicated and can be repetitive. Many writing guides warn against verbosity and with good reason. Too often, verbosity looks like a student’s writing that has been “padded out” to reach a minimum word count, or it looks like the writer is trying to show off by using as many words as possible.

Although verbosity is usually seen negatively in writing, you will see it in neutral terms in the world of computing. In software development, “verbose logging” helps software engineers receive greater details in a log of what the software was doing at any given time.

Verbosity examples

Sometimes authors will use verbosity to help them create character, as it can suggest a certain pompousness or indirectness.

Verbosity can also be a narrative device that introduces humor to a situation in literature.

Frequently asked questions about verbosity

How do you use verbosity in a sentence?

You can use verbosity in a sentence to say that someone’s writing or speaking is too wordy:

“I have nothing against complicated sentences, but this is nothing but pointless verbosity!”

“Keep your writing as simple and to-the-point as possible and avoid verbosity at all costs.”

“Inexperienced writers often suffer from verbosity, mistaking it for a show of skill. The real skill, however, lies in writing clear, concise, and uncomplicated text.”

You can use Scribbr’s free paraphrasing tool to help you avoid verbosity.

What is the antonym of verbosity?

There are several possible antonyms of verbosity, including:

• Brevity: Meaning shortness of speech or writing.
• Conciseness/concision: Expressing much in a few words.
• Succinctness: Like concise, using few words to express much.
• Terseness: Using few words, to the point of not saying enough.
• Laconic: Using very few words.
• Pithy: Using few words, with a sense of being pointedly humorous or critical.

The Scribbr paraphrasing tool is a great way of finding the antonym of verbosity and discovering new ways of phrasing your writing.