varchar

V4A1R1C3H4A1R1
UK/ˈvɑːt͡ʃɑː/US/ˈvɑɹt͡ʃɑɹ/US/ˈvɛ(ə)ɹkɛ(ə)ɹ/

noun

A text field of indeterminate length in a database, as opposed to the traditional fixed-length field.

Less commonScrabble 15
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounvarchar (plural varchars)

plural varchars

  1. computingA text field of indeterminate length in a database, as opposed to the traditional fixed-length field.

    Be aware that varchars will in general provide slower updates but faster selects. By definition, the amount of storage they use is variable.

    1999, David K. Rensin, Andrew M. Fedorchek, William C. Amo, Microsoft SQL Server 7 secrets
    1 more example

    With a varchar, the storage is always the actual number of characters you have stored plus 2 bytes. So a varchar(20) with a 5-character word will take up 7 bytes, with the extra 2 bytes holding a size reference for SQL Server.

    2008, Eric Johnson, Joshua Jones, A Developer's Guide to Data Modeling for SQL Server

Origin

From the data type name, a shortening of variable character.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

varchar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/varchar

MLA

“varchar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/varchar. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “varchar,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/varchar.

Source: varchar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.