voluble
adjective
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In a chapter titled “Conversation,” from her 1922 book Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home, Emily Post offers her trademark good advice for the loquacious among us: “There is a simple rule, by which if one is a voluble chatterer ... one can at least refrain from being a pest or a bore. And the rule is merely, to stop and think.” Voluble, as is clear in this context, describes someone or something (as in “voluble personality/prose/presence”) characterized by ready or rapid speech. Voluble traces back to the Latin verb volvere, meaning “to set in a circular course” or “to cause to roll.” Another volvere descendant, volume, can also be a help in remembering voluble’s meaning, not because someone described as voluble speaks at a loud volume, per se, but because they have volumes to say.
Examples of voluble in a Sentence
New Atlas, 24 Oct. 2025
The two voluble MCs, who took parallel paths to fame in the Nineties, laugh and swap stories in the dressing room while the cameras are getting positioned a few feet away.
—Simon Vozick-Levinson, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2025
Qerim won a lot of respect, including from ESPN staffers, with her knack for calmly reining in Smith and the voluble personalities debating him.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2025
The bleachers beside the benches were nearly full and accordingly voluble.
—Dan Greene, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for voluble
Cite this Entry
“Voluble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/voluble. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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