verbose
/vəˈbəʊs/
"verbose" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“verbose” is an uncommon English word, ranked #57,158 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #57,158
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Containing or using more words than necessary; long-winded, wordy.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | verbose |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /vəˈbəʊs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #57,158 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “verbose” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for verbose is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /vəˈbəʊs/. Corpus data places it at rank #57,158 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
verbose has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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 +… The correct English form is verbose, spelled V-E-R-B-O-S-E.
Definition
- 1Containing or using more words than necessary; long-winded, wordy.
- 2Producing detailed output for diagnostic purposes.
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.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “verbose”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-E-R-B-O-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /vəˈbəʊs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.