verbosity

/vəˈbɒsəti/

//vəˈbɒsəti// noun

"verbosity" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“verbosity” is uncommon English (frequency #97,679 among 969 “V” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#97,679
frequency rank, English
969
“V” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The excess use of words, especially using more than are needed for clarity or precision.

Corpus desk

Index EN-verbosity · verbosity · English

verbosity · rank #97,679 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #97,679
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 969
  • PHOTO-FINISH uvula

Nearest frequency peer: uvula (-3 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “verbosity”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “verbosity” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for verbosity
PropertyValue
Headwordverbosity
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/vəˈbɒsəti/
Letters9
Frequency rank#97,679
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “verbosity” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).verbosityfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “uvula” (#97,676), “vexation” (#97,682), “upgradable” (#97,673). Among 969 “V” headwords, “verbosity” is #97,679. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

verbosity is uncommon English at frequency #97,679 among 969 “V” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /vəˈbɒsəti/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The excess use of words, especially using more than are needed for clarity or precision.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for verbosity, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French verbosité, from Late Latin verbōsitās. By surface analysis, verbose + -ity. The correct English form is verbosity, spelled V-E-R-B-O-S-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The excess use of words, especially using more than are needed for clarity or precision.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how verbosity appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. With Christie's words about "all-talk-no-action" in mind, notice that Obama and his two secretaries of state, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, as well as his vice president, Joe Biden, were all senators, the last two serving for two or three decades, respectively. Not forgetting the ill-fated secretary of defense, Senator Chuck Hagel. Their capacity for ta…

Etymology

From Middle French verbosité, from Late Latin verbōsitās. By surface analysis, verbose + -ity.

Synonyms

Antonyms

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

How do you spell "verbosity"?
"verbosity" is spelled V-E-R-B-O-S-I-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /vəˈbɒsəti/.
What does "verbosity" mean?
As a noun, "verbosity" means: The excess use of words, especially using more than are needed for clarity or precision.
How do you pronounce "verbosity"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "verbosity" is /vəˈbɒsəti/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "verbosity"?
From Middle French verbosité, from Late Latin verbōsitās. By surface analysis, verbose + -ity. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "verbosity", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list