20 wonderful words for wafflers

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If you know a talkative soul, but tire of using the same old adjectives to describe them, then today is your lucky day. We’ve delved into the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/thesaurus" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary</em></a> to draw out some less common synonyms for ‘talkative’. From <em>nimble-chop</em> to <em>word-wood</em>, and <em>gassy</em> to <em>talewise</em>, you should never again run out of an appropriate adjective to describe the chatterbox in your life.</p> <h3>Wordy</h3> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/230211?redirectedFrom=wordy#eid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Wordy</em></a> means ‘full of or abounding in words’, and is used to describe a particularly <em>garrulous </em>person who uses a excess of words.</p> <h3>Talewise</h3> <p>Given to tales or talking, if someone is <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/197219?redirectedFrom=talewise#eid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>talewise</em> </a>they may be addicted to gossip, and prone to blabbing.</p> <h3>Speakful</h3> <p>Dating back to the 13th century, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/185918?redirectedFrom=speakful#eid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>speakful</em> </a>comes from the word ‘speak’ and means talkative.</p> <h3>Word-wood</h3> <p>A now obsolete adjective, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/230192?redirectedFrom=word-wood#eid14318832" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>word-wood</em></a> describes someone who is wild or unrestrained in speech.</p> <h3>Tonguey</h3> <p>If someone is <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/203189?redirectedFrom=tonguey#eid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>tonguey</em></a>, they’re full of ‘tongue’ or talk – with the additional implication that what they make up in talk, they lack in deed.</p> <h3>Windy</h3> <p>Verbiage and long-winded, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/229301?rskey=aBFBoq&result=3&isAdvanced=false#eid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>windy</em> </a>is used for speakers or writers who are ‘blustering’, bragging, boastful, and even violent or extravagant in utterance.</p> <h3>Long-tongued</h3> <p>As the word implies, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/110090?redirectedFrom=long-tongued#eid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>long-tongued</em></a> denotes someone who is excessively talkative and prone to speaking out of turn or revealing secrets.</p> <h3>Talkful</h3> <p>Following the pattern of <em>speakful </em>before it, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/197259?redirectedFrom=talkful#eid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>talkful</em> </a>is derived from the word ‘talk’ and literally means ‘full of talk’.</p> <h3>Tongue-ripe</h3> <p>Another highly evocative word, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/203173?redirectedFrom=tongue-ripe#eid18300477" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>tongue-ripe</em></a> means voluble, glib, garrulous, and loquacious.</p> <h3>Garrulous</h3> <p>It’s cropped up a few times already, but <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/76891?redirectedFrom=garrulous#eid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>garrulous</em> </a>describes a person who is given to much talking, and is fond of indulging in talk or chatter – interestingly, <em>garrulous</em> is also used for birds and inanimate objects that chatter or babble.</p> <h3>Feather-tongued</h3> <p>Speaking of birds, to be <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/68837?redirectedFrom=feather-tongued#eid"><em>feather-tongued</em></a> is to be light-tongued and so given to fast and frequent talk.</p> <h3>Linguacious</h3> <p>Borrowed from the Latin for tongue, ‘lingua’, and the suffix ‘acious’, meaning ‘given to’ and ‘having much of’, <em><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/108686?redirectedFrom=linguacious#eid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">linguacious </a> </em>means abounding in or full or tongue, i.e. talkative.</p> <h3>Nimble-chop</h3> <p>The first evidence for <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/255126?redirectedFrom=nimble-chop#eid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>nimble-chop</em></a> dates back to 1662, when it was used to describe talkative Jesuit priests.</p> <h3>Loquacious</h3> <p>You might see come across this word in poetic descriptions of birds or water, but when applied to people, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/110281?redirectedFrom=loquacious#eid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>loquacious </em></a>is another interesting synonym for those who are given to much talking.</p> <h3>Gabby</h3> <p>Not to be confused with ‘gobby’, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/75914?redirectedFrom=gabby#eid"><em>gabby</em> </a>hails from Scotland and means abounding in gab – a good one for those who have the ‘gift of the gab’.</p> <h3>Talky</h3> <p>No prizes here: to be <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/197265?redirectedFrom=talky#eid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>talky</em> </a>is to be inclined to – or even abounding in – talk.</p> <h3>Nimble-mouthed</h3> <p>Just as it says on the tin, to be <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/127142?redirectedFrom=nimble-mouthed#eid34894813" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>nimble-mouthed</em></a> is to be light and quick with talk.</p> <h3>Gassy</h3> <p>Meaning ‘full of gas’ and ‘excessively effervescent’, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/76985?redirectedFrom=gassy#eid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>gassy</em> </a>people are given to idle talk or are excessively verbose.</p> <h3>Loose-lipped</h3> <p>Like loose-tongued, if someone is <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/110192?redirectedFrom=loose-lipped#eid38842814" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>loose-lipped</em></a> they are uninhibited in their speech.</p> </div> <div class="add-post-content"> <ul> <li><em>The opinions and other information contained in OxfordWords blog posts and comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Oxford University Press.</em></li> </ul> </div> <div class="social-share"> <ul> <li class="fb"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/10/04/words-for-wafflers/?&p[title]=20 wonderful words for wafflers" id="fb-link" target="_blank" data-title="20 wonderful words for wafflers"><span> <svg 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transform="translate(-1225 -2048)"/> </svg> </span></a></li> </ul> </a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="author-inform"> <ul> <li> <h6>Author</h6> <h5><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/author/oxford-dictionaries/" title="Posts by Oxford Dictionaries" rel="author">Oxford Dictionaries</a></h5> <p></p> </li> <li> <h6>Published</h6> <p>October 4 / 2013</p> </li> <li> <h6>Categories</h6> <ul class="post-categories"> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/category/english-in-use/" rel="category tag">English in use</a></li></ul> </li> <li> <h6>Tags</h6> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/tag/historical-thesaurus/" rel="tag">Historical Thesaurus</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/tag/oed/" rel="tag">OED</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/tag/oxford-english-dictionary/" rel="tag">Oxford English Dictionary</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/tag/popular/" rel="tag">popular</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/tag/synonym/" rel="tag">synonym</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/tag/talkative/" rel="tag">talkative</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190321032905/https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/tag/waffler/" rel="tag">waffler</a></p> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="banner sec">  <div id="div-gpt-ad-1471358448959-1"> <script> googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1471358448959-1'); }); </script> </div> </div> <div class="rel-posts"> <h4>Related posts</h4> <div class="post-box"> <div class="post-img"> <a 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<p>Tired of the word weird? 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