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Tuesday October 26, 2010

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prolix [pro-LIKS; PRO-liks]

adjective

1. Extending to a great length; unnecessarily long and wordy.
2. Tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length.

• Fans of Curb Your Enthusiasm should curb theirs fast: David's distinctive anti-charm here becomes horribly grating. Although the misanthropy is played for ironic laughs, Boris's prolix sourness too obviously voices Allen's well-known impatience with the modern world.
  Jonathan Romney, "Coppola wastes his genius, while Woody loses his wit", The Independent on Sunday, Jun 27, 2010
• However, as in her recent adaptation of "Dracula," Geer lets her source material gallop away with her. The first act, which revolves around the familiar MacGuffin of the Queen's necklace, is a romp. The second act, bogged down in an array of prolix plots, is a bit of a slog that takes itself far too seriously.
  Daryl H. Miller, "THEATER BEAT; A family you get behind", Los Angeles Times, Jun 18, 2010
• Now, you will think me rather prolix about this man; but, as it looks as if his life might become entwined with mine, it is a subject of immediate interest to me, and I am writing all this for the purpose of reviving my own half-faded impressions, as well as in the hope of amusing and interesting you.
  J. Stark Munro The Stark Munro Letters

Origin of the Word

Prolix, approximately 1425, derives from Old French prolixe, from Latin prolixus "extended," literally"poured out," from pro- "forth" + base of liquere "to flow."