Synonyms for rambling
- adjective
Most common
meandering wandering winding aberrant discursive prolix sprawling desultory
Definitions
- adj. 1
Of a speech: meandering, long and digressing.
- adj. 2
Confused and irregular; awkward.
- adj. 3
Winding irregularly in various directions.
Related words
- Word family
- ramblingly
- Phrases
- rambling rose
Choose the right word
Ramble, in its literal use, is always a word of pleasant suggestion, but in its figurative use always somewhat contemptuous; as, rambling talk.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- wandering Just wandering around can be a good way to travel.
- winding I'm getting tired of driving on this winding road.
- meandering Ziri was meandering the park when he saw something terrifying.
- discursive Mayor Jackson's speech was long and discursive.
- prolix Many readers will get lost if your writing is too prolix.
- desultory Most of the others also lit their pipes and a desultory conversation ensued.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| rambling | rising | |
| wandering | rising | |
| winding | steady | |
| meandering | rising | |
| discursive | rising | |
| prolix | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 5 letters
- loose1, yappy
- 6 letters
- roving2, errant2, prolix
- 7 letters
- winding2, erratic3, diffuse2, nomadic3, devious3, vagrant2
- 8 letters
- indirect3, aberrant3, straggly
- 9 letters
- wandering3, unsettled3, sprawling2, garrulous3, desultory4, excursive
- 10 letters
- incoherent4, meandering4, disjointed3, discursive3, digressive
- 11 letters
- rhapsodical
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (roving2 = 2 syllables).