Chinese word

冗长

Pronunciation

Pinyinrǒng cháng

Meaning

  • adjectivewordy

Example

这篇文章有点冗长，可以更简洁。zhè piān wén zhāng yóu diǎn rǒng cháng ké yǐ gèng jiǎn jié

This article is a little wordy and could be more concise.

Illustration for 冗长 (wordy)

More examples

合同的条款过于冗长，普通读者难以迅速理解要点。hé tóng de tiáo kuǎn guò yú rǒng cháng pǔ tōng dú zhě nán yǐ xùn sù lí jiě yào diǎn

The contract's clauses are too wordy, making it hard for ordinary readers to quickly understand the main points.

Core concept

Communication keeps stretching after its useful content is complete, making the audience travel through extra words or time.

Common phrases

  • 表达冗长biǎo dá rǒng cháng

    wordy expression

  • 论述冗长lùn shù rǒng cháng

    wordy exposition

  • 文风冗长wén fēng rǒng cháng

    wordy writing style

Similar words

啰嗦luō suo: Describes speech or writing that drags on with needless details or repeated ideas.
累赘léi zhuì: Describes something extra and cumbersome that makes understanding or handling it harder.
冗赘rǒng zhuì: Describes unnecessary wording in writing that makes the whole text harder to read.

Definition in Chinese

用来形容说话或写作在内容或时间上过于延长，存在许多可删去的部分，听者或读者感到疲倦。yòng lái xíng róng shuō huà huò xiě zuò zài nèi róng huò shí jiān shàng guò yú yán cháng cún zài xǔ duō kě shān qù de bù fèn tīng zhě huò dú zhě gǎn dào pí juàn

Word origin

冗 (rǒng, "superfluous") + 长 (cháng, "long") forms a compound for communication that extends beyond what is needed.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, 有点冗长 (yǒudiǎn rǒngcháng, "a little wordy") softens a criticism of a talk or piece of writing by making it less absolute.

Other meanings

  • ramblingadjective

Opposites

  • 精炼jīng liànconciseadjective
  • 简明jiǎn míngclear and conciseadjective

Related words

  • 冗长性rǒng cháng xìngwordinessnoun

Word lists with this word