Meaning & use
rambling
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noundisapproving
Going on at length without a clear point, order or focus, as speech or writing may.
Grammar: Usually comes before a noun: a rambling speech.
Patterns
- a rambling speech
- a rambling story
His rambling answer never actually addressed the question.
I received a long, rambling email from my uncle.
The film's rambling plot lost me halfway through.
adjectivebefore a noun
Spreading out in an irregular way, as a large building, garden or path does.
Grammar: Describes sprawling places: a rambling house.
Patterns
- a rambling house
They live in a rambling old farmhouse with a dozen rooms.
A rambling rose covered the garden wall.
We followed a rambling path through the woods.
noununcountableBritish
The activity of walking for pleasure in the countryside.
Grammar: Mainly British: go rambling.
Patterns
- go rambling
Rambling is a popular weekend pastime in the Lake District.
The club organizes a rambling trip every month.
She took up rambling after she retired.
Common combinations
- a rambling speech
- The president gave a rambling speech.
- a rambling story
- Grandpa told a rambling story about the war.
- a rambling house
- They bought a rambling house by the sea.
- go rambling
- We go rambling on Sundays.
- rambling on
- He kept rambling on about his vacation.
Synonyms and how they differ
- disjointed
- Disjointed stresses that the parts do not connect, while rambling stresses length and lack of direction.
- long-winded
- Long-winded means using too many words for a simple point, but a rambling talk may not have a point at all.
- sprawling
- Sprawling is better for places and cities, while rambling suits both places and speech.
- hiking
- Hiking is the usual word in American English for walking in nature, while rambling is British and gentler.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: rambling or rumbling?
rambling vs rumbling
Rumbling means making a low, heavy sound, as thunder does, while rambling means long and unfocused.
Practice
Which phrase suggests a speech that wandered from topic to topic?
Choose one answer.
Rambling means long and unfocused. Concise and brief describe the opposite, and rehearsed says nothing about focus.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “rambling”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.