voluble

English

WOTD – 20 May 2009    

Etymology

From Latin volūbilis (“rolling”), from volvō (“I roll”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA: /ˈvɒl.jʊ.bəl/
  • (US) IPA: /ˈvɑl.jə.bəl/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)

Adjective

voluble (comparative more voluble, superlative most voluble)

  1. (of a person or a manner of speaking) Fluent or having a ready flow of speech; garrulous or loquacious; tonguey.
    • circa 1595, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost, act 3, sc. 1:
      A most acute juvenal; voluble and free of grace!
    • 1853, Charlotte Brontë, Villette, ch. 19:
      What fun shone in his eyes as he recalled some of her fine speeches, and repeated them, imitating her voluble delivery!
    • 1904, Jack London, The Sea Wolf, ch. 26:
      But Wolf Larsen seemed voluble, prone to speech as I had never seen him before.
  2. (of thoughts, feelings, or something that is expressed) Expressed readily or at length and in a fluent manner.
    • 1886, William Dean Howells, The Minister's Charge, ch. 6:
      [H]e heard the voice of the drunken woman, now sober, poured out in voluble remorse, and in voluble promise of amendment for the future, to every one who passed, if they would let her off easy.
    • 1910, H. H. Munro, "The Reticence of Lady Anne" in Reginald in Russia and Other Sketches:
      As a rule Lady Anne's displeasure became articulate and markedly voluble after four minutes of introductory muteness.
    • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses, Episode 9:
      In the daylit corridor he talked with voluble pains of zeal.
  3. Easily rolling or turning; having a fluid, undulating motion.
    • 1935, Leonard Barnes, Zulu Paraclete: A Sentimental Record, Peter Davies, p. 22:
      Seen from the west, their sky-line gallops away north and south like a sea-serpent in voluble motion.
  4. (botany) Twisting and turning like a vine.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related terms

Translations

fluent or having a ready flow of speech; garrulous or loquacious
easily rolling or turning
twisting and turning like a vine
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Spanish

Adjective

voluble m and f (plural volubles)

  1. Easily turned around
  2. Of inconstant character
  3. voluble (sense 4)
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Last modified on 19 May 2013, at 18:37