verbose meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

verbose

adj

UK /vəˈbəʊs/ · CA, US /vɚˈboʊs/

Etymology From Latin verbōsus (“prolix, wordy, verbose”). Verbōsus is derived from verbum (“word”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *werh₁- (“to say, speak”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, overly, prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). Equivalent to verb + -ose.

Containing or using more words than necessary; long-winded, wordy.

I omit more than an Hundred Things, that would engage to perſonal Reflection; for my Soul hath no Pleaſure in ſtriving therein, as knowing the inconſiſtancy of that uncharitable virulent Temper with a Chriſtian Spirit, which I am aſſured is quite another Thing, from what is Verboſe, Abuſive[,] Cavilling, Airy, and meerly Notional; [...]1672, W[illiam] P[enn], “To the Impartial Reader”, in The Spirit of Truth Vindicated, against that of Error & Envy; […], [London: […] Andrew Sowle ...], →OCLC, page 8:
[...] I might ſeem to deſerve juſtly to be accounted a verboſe and ſilly Defender; [...]1692, John Milton, “The Author’s Preface”, in [Joseph Washington], transl., A Defence of the People of England, […]: In Answer to Salmasius’s Defence of the King, [London?]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page i:

4 more examples

Thy ſonnet is a piece of verboſe fuſtian; and thy preface is compoſed of far-fetch'd expreſſions, vvords that have not the publick ſtamp, perplexed phraſes; in a vvord, thy ſtile is quite peculiar to thyſelf; […]1751, [Alain-René Lesage], “Gil Blas Meets His Dear Friend Fabricius at Court: […]”, in [Tobias George Smollett], transl., The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane. […], 3rd edition, volume III, London: […] J. Osborn, […], →OCLC, book VII, page 87:
We mentioned as another of the faults of Dr. [Charles] Anthon's book, that it exhibited his usual verbose grandiloquence. [...] We objected, for instance, to the lexicon, as loaded with useless words; and we suggested that the probable cause was the desire of procuring for it the appearance of completeness and originality.1840 October, “Art. XI.—Critical Notices. 1.—A Reply to an Attack on Anthon’s Greek Reader, in the North American Review for July, 1840. The Knickerbocker. Extra. New York. 8vo. pp. 11.”, in The North American Review, volume LI, number CIX, Boston, Mass.: Ferdinand Andrews, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 498:
So with sentences or the combinations of words. Much skill is required for their construction. They must convey your meaning accurately, and as far as possible in the natural order of thought, and yet they must not be complex, involved, verbose, stiff, ungainly, or tautological. They must be brief, but not curt; explicit, but not verbose. Here, again, good taste must be your guide, rather than rules which teachers propound, but which the pupil never follows.1863, Edward W[illiam] Cox, “Letter VIII. Words—Sentences—Rhythm.”, in The Arts of Writing, Reading and Speaking, in Letters to a Law Student, London: John Crockford, […], →OCLC, page 51:
On the Furness section the sign at Grange is as brief—PASSENGERS MUST CROSS BY THE SUBWAY—as that at the next station, Arnside, is verbose: PASSENGERS ARE REQUESTED TO CROSS THE LINE BY THE BRIDGE. IT IS DANGEROUS TO CROSS THE RAILS.1942 April, Bernard Fielding, “Crossing the Line”, in Railway Magazine, page 103:

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences Producing detailed output for diagnostic purposes.

You should use verbose logging sparingly. Turning on verbose logging for every process would result in log files so large they would become useless.2001, Richard Blum, “Common Postfix Problems”, in Postfix, Indianapolis, Ind.: Sams Publishing, →ISBN, part III (Advanced Postfix Server Topics), page 532:
Verbose logging adds extra detail and increases the descriptiveness of the log entries made. Verbose logging also adds one additional client log file that is specific to DCM, SmsClrHost.log, and one management point log file, MP_GetSdmPackage.log.2009, Kerrie Meyler, Byron Holt, Greg Ramsey [et al.], “Desired Configuration Management”, in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Unleashed, Indianapolis, Ind.: Sams Publishing, →ISBN, part III (Configuration Manager Operations):

1 more example

For troubleshooting purposes, enable verbose logging for the WUA by following these steps: [...]2015, Andre Della Monica, Chris Shilt, Russ Rimmerman, Rushi Faldu, “Understanding Software Update Architecture: Client Side”, in Mitch Tulloch, editor, Microsoft System Center: Software Update Management Field Experience, Redmond, Wash.: Microsoft Press, →ISBN, page 19:

Synonyms: circumlocutory, diffuse, periphrastic, palaverous, pleonastic, prolix, rigmarole, sesquipedalian, verbose, wordy
Antonyms: concise, taciturn, unverbose
Derived terms: verbosely, verboseness
Related terms: verbosity, florid, flowery
Hypernyms: digressive, discursive, excursive, extravagant, exuberant, lengthy, maundering, ostentatious, pretentious, profuse, protracted, rambling, redundant, roundabout
Hyponyms: bombastic, dreich, floaty, fustian, lexiphanic, long-winded, magniloquent, garrulous, grandiloquent, talkative, windy