Definition

1. Noun:
   • Excessive or unnecessary words: An overabundance of words, especially in writing or speech, that adds little meaning or clarity.
   • The manner or style of using words: The way in which something is expressed in words; diction or wording.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The contract's dense verbiage made it difficult to understand the actual terms.
  • The report was full of bureaucratic verbiage and needed to be simplified.
  • He was criticized for the pompous verbiage in his speech.

Advanced Usage

• Legal/Technical Verbiage: Refers to the specialized, often complex and wordy language used in legal documents or technical fields.
  • The software license agreement was buried in legal verbiage.
• Cut the verbiage: An informal instruction to stop using unnecessary words and get to the point.
  • "Cut the verbiage and tell me what you really mean."

Variants and Related Words

• Verbose (adj): Using or containing more words than are needed; wordy.
  • A verbose explanation.
• Verbosity (n): The quality of being verbose; wordiness.
  • The verbosity of the essay weakened its argument.

Synonyms

• Wordiness
• Prolixity
• Verbosity
• Circumlocution
• Redundancy

Antonyms

• Conciseness
• Succinctness
• Brevity
• Terseness

Related Idioms

• To be lost in verbiage: To be confused or overwhelmed by an excessive amount of words.
  • The main point was lost in a sea of verbiage.

Noun

1. the manner in which something is expressed in words
   • use concise military verbiage- G.S.Patton
2. overabundance of words