SuaviloquyToday’s word

garrulous

Garrulous, a.

Etymology: [L. garrulus, fr. garrire to chatter, talk; cf. Gr. Call.]

1. Talking much, especially about commonplace or trivial things; talkative; loquacious. The most garrulous people on earth. De Quincey.

2. (Zoöl.)

Having a loud, harsh note; noisy; -- said of birds; as, the garrulous roller.

Syn. -- Garrulous, Talkative, Loquacious. A garrulous person indulges in long, prosy talk, with frequent repetitions and lengthened details; talkative implies simply a great desire to talk; and loquacious a great flow of words at command. A child is talkative; a lively woman is loquacious; an old man in his dotage is garrulous. -- Gar"ru*lous*ly, adv. -- Gar"ru*lous*ness, n.

Shades of meaning

Garrulous signifies given to constant trivial talking. Chattering signifies uttering rapid, noisy, and unintelligible, or scarcely intelligible, sounds, whether articulate words or such as resemble them; chattering is often used of vocal sounds that may be intelligible by themselves but are ill understood owing to confusion of many voices or other cause. The talkative person has a strong disposition to talk, with or without an abundance of words, or many ideas; the loquacious person has an abundant flow of language and much to say on any subject suggested; either may be lively and for a time entertaining; the garrulous person is tedious, repetitious, petty, and self-absorbed. Verbose is applied to utterances more formal than conversation, as to writings or public addresses. We speak of a chattering monkey or a chattering idiot, a talkative child, a talkative or loquacious woman, a garrulous old man, a verbose writer. Compare circumlocution.