wortreich

Wortreich is a German adjective meaning rich in words, used to describe language that is expressive or lexically varied. A wortreicher Stil employs a broad and varied vocabulary, precise terminology, and a range of stylistic devices to convey nuance. The term is commonly used in literary criticism, rhetoric, journalism, and language teaching to characterize style rather than content. Wortreich language tends to rely on synonyms, adjectives, and varied sentence rhythm to convey subtleties that a more economical style might not fully capture.

Etymology: Wortreich is a compound of Wort (word) and reich (rich), forming a descriptive attribute that has been in use since at least the 19th century, especially in formal or evaluative writing.

Usage notes: In German, wortreich is generally positive when praising expressiveness, but it can imply over-elaboration if the language becomes overly ornate or verbose. It can accompany nouns such as Rede, Stil, Vortrag, Prosa, and is declined accordingly: eine wortreiche Rede; ein wortreicher Stil; wortreich schreiben.

Examples: Der Redner fesselte das Publikum mit einer wortreichen Ausführung. Die wortreiche Prosa des Romans zeichnet sich durch eine präzise Bildsprache aus.

See also: Wortschatz, Ausdruckskraft, Sprachgewandtheit, Rhetorik.