verbose
verb·ose/vɚˈboʊs/adjective
verbose is spelled V-E-R-B-O-S-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (verb·ose). It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 56,788th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, verbose means “Containing or using more words than necessary; long-winded, wordy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in verbose?
| Letters | 7: V-E-R-B-O-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: verb·ose |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 56,788th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is verbose?
Verbose appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 56,788th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce verbose?
- UK /vəˈbəʊs/
- US /vɚˈboʊs/
- Australia /vəˈbəʉs/
Verbose has 2 syllables, split verb·ose in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-verbose.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with verbose?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as verbose from its last stressed vowel (/oʊs/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: observe, obverse.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of verbose
- more verbose comparative
- most verbose superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does verbose mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Containing or using more words than necessary; long-winded, wordy.
- 2
Producing detailed output for diagnostic purposes.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Verbose in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense containing or using more words than necessary – see also long-winded, wordy:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | verbeux, prolixe |
| German | ausführlich, langatmig, wortreich, verbos |
| Portuguese | verboso |
| Spanish | verboso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does verbose come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).