verbiage

English

Etymology

From French verbiage.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɜː(ɹ).bi.ɪdʒ/

Noun

verbiage (countable and uncountable, plural verbiages)

1. Overabundance of words.
2. The manner in which something is expressed in words.
   • 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.

   • (Can we date this quote by George Patton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Use concise military verbiage.

Usage notes

Because of the pejorative connotation of the primary definition of verbiage it is preferred to use diction, phrasing, etc. to describe the manner in which something is expressed in words.

Translations

overabundance of words

• Dutch: woordenvloed (nl)
• Finnish: sanahelinä (fi), sanapaljous
• French: verbiage (fr)
• Norwegian: ordgyteri n
• Polish: gadanina (pl) f
• Portuguese: verbalizar (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: многосло́вие (ru) n (mnogoslóvije), пустосло́вие (ru) n (pustoslóvije), словоблу́дие (ru) n (slovoblúdije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пра̏зносло̄вље n

  Roman: prȁznoslōvlje (sh) n

• Spanish: verborrea (es) f, palabrería (es)
• Welsh: geiriogrwydd m

---

French

Etymology

From Middle French verbier + -age.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɛʁ.bjaʒ/

Noun

verbiage m (countable and uncountable, plural verbiages)

1. verbiage

Synonyms

• (colloquial) blablabla

Further reading

• “verbiage”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.