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rambling

rambling

33 5.5
Long confused speech or writing that is hard to follow
  • noun
  • /ˈræmblɪŋ/
translation icon : divagación
  • All my life was lived on the periphery, the ramblings of a young man's fancy.

All also pick up this handsome soft bound journal titled My Incoherent Ramblings.

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Examples

  • So now, after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure.

  • But I figured the guy would probably think I was just some drunk rambling past.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Just this weekend he got out there and told this long rambling story.

  • When she was not in a hurry, she enjoyed listening to her friend's ramblings.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • OK, so that's enough of that bit of rambling about why this theorem is so useful.

  • So anyway, give this podcast a thumbs up if you enjoyed my ramblings today and I will talk to you soon.

  • How else could she explain his talkativeness, his rambling, his strange extravagant behavior except to assume that he was drunk?

    Fiction book (1993)
  • The Garden Island quit publishing her ramblings, and even the shopper ignored most of them.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • So you'll be able to read me and all my musings and political, you know, ramblings on, on Spectator USA.

  • His speech was nothing more than a confusing rambling that left the audience bewildered.

Synonyms

verbiage
vsrambling
11 8.1

Language that uses too many words and is hard to understand

is similarly excessive but also disorganized and confusing
screed
vsrambling
  • Literature
7 9.5

A long angry piece of writing or speech that criticizes something

matches length and tedium but stresses scattered, hard to follow speech
mumbling
vsrambling
6 3.6

Speaking quietly and not clearly so people cannot understand

is about confusing structure and length, not only unclear pronunciation
incoherence
vsrambling
5 7.3

Speech or writing that is unclear and hard to follow

is disorganized and also lengthy rather than only lacking logic
jabbering
vsrambling
  • Informal
4 7.9

Fast, unclear talk that is hard to understand

is slower and disorganized rather than merely fast and unclear
word salad
vsrambling
  • Specialized
3 9.9

Confusing speech or writing that makes no sense

is incoherent too but arises from wandering long speech rather than illness
verbosity
vsrambling
1 7.3

Using more words than needed when speaking or writing

goes further by being both long and disorganized
incoherency
vsrambling
1 7.5

A lack of clear, organized speech or writing that makes it hard to follow

adds excessive length and difficulty to that same lack of logic
long-windedness
vsrambling
1 7.5

Talking or writing with too many words makes people bored

is similar but more about being disorganized and hard to follow
prolixity
vsrambling
  • Formal
1 9.9

A habit of using too many words that makes people bored

focuses more on disorderly, hard to follow long expression
wordiness
vsrambling
1 4.8

Using more language than needed in writing or speech

adds a chaotic or disorganized flow to that lengthiness
inarticulacy
vsrambling
1 8.7

Not being able to speak or write clearly

involves unclear expression plus extended, disorganized output
disjointed speech
vsrambling
7.8

Speech that is hard to follow because the ideas do not connect

is similar but also emphasizes long, wandering expression
6.8

A talk that jumps between topics and does not follow a clear idea

describes the same wandering but with more lengthy monologue
diffusiveness
vsrambling
9.4

Lack of focus in speech or writing that makes ideas hard to follow

shares wandering quality but stresses excessive length and confusion
prolixness
vsrambling
  • Formal
9.9

The use of too many words that makes speech or writing long and boring

adds the idea of scattered, hard to follow content
verboseness
vsrambling
7.4

Using more words than needed so speech or writing is hard to follow

is wordy but also lacks clear structure and coherence
verbality
vsrambling
9.5

Speech or writing that uses too many words

is more than habitually wordy, often disorganized and hard to follow
talkiness
vsrambling
6.8

Speaking or writing with more words than needed and making the meaning unclear

is more than talky by being scattered and hard to follow
tartine
vsrambling
  • UK
9.5

A long boring piece of writing or speech that repeats the same points

is similarly long but more generally disorganized and confusing

Antonyms

1.0

Easy to understand and not confusing

75 7.2

Clear and logical speaking or writing that is easy to understand

37 4.2

Using few words to give important information clearly

How Rambling

incoherent
22 7.2
rambling
33 5.5
disorganized
  • US
38 3.1
discursive
  • Formal
1 8.3
clear
1.0

Surface Forms

rambling singular
ramblings plural

Morphology

rambling = ramble (transparent) = ramble + ing

The noun is a straightforward nominalization of the verb/adjective 'ramble/rambling' indicating the act or instance of rambling.

Etymology

A helpful way to remember the noun rambling is to think of ramble 'to wander'; a rambling is like a long, wandering walk in words that drifts away from the main idea and is hard to follow.