Dictionary

prattle en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈpɹætəl/

Etymology

From prate + -le (early modern English frequentative suffix). Compare Dutch pruttelen and Dutch preutelen (“to mutter”).

Meanings

1. (uncountable) Silly, childish talk; babble.
   • [...] if you fatigue people by haying them always present, if you encourage or repeat their prattle and their sports; [...] 1833, Elisabeth Celnart, The Gentleman and Lady's Book of Politeness and Propriety of Deportment: Dedicated to the Youth of Both Sexes, Allen and Ticknor and Carter, Hendee, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 15:
   • Mere prattle without practice is all his soldiership. c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], line 27:

Deriveds

prattlement · prattlesome · prittle-prattle · prattlebox

Descendants

fraat

Synonyms

ruse · fuckry · horse piss · babble · tattle · double Dutch · blab · palaver · word salad · banana oil · piffle · macaroni · pie in the sky · foolishness · jabber · footle · baragouin · hocus-pocus · nertz · all my eye · jargon · bollocks · yackety-yak · twaddle · hoax · bibble-babble · chatter · twaddle · bavardage · mumbo jumbo · all my eye and Betty Martin · garble · baloney · gibberish · bosh · galimatias · trittle trattle · nonsense · fuckery · jibber-jabber · humbug · bullspeak · rigmarole · flim-flam · drivel · rhubarb rhubarb · applesauce · garbage · gash · rot · meaninglessness · squit · bull · jimjam · wass · blatherskite · tush · tripe · flapdoodle · bullshit · yap · shite · hogwash · prattle · fudge · tosh · doublespeak · crock · blather · bobbins · chinwag · put-on · shit · jabberwocky · horsefeathers · small talk · yatter · flummery · scuttlebutt · chit-chat · bafflegab · blathering · folderol · whiff-whaff · flizz · bullcrap · prattle · framis · codswallop · cobblers · absurdity · horse puckey · batshit · manure · Gallophone · Bandini · blabber · horse cock · eyewash · crap · tommy-rot · poppycock · blah-blah-blah · apple grease · guff · rhubarb · blah-blah · bull feathers · stuff · blather · fiddle-faddle · balls · dribble · prate · blabbing · balderdash · bilgewater · hokum · Greek · Irish bull · bunk · gobbledygook · junk · BS · clepe · clamjamfrey · pigswill · mardle · bulldust · horse hockey · waffle · gup · trash · jive · claver · rubbish · bunkum · gabble · hooey · stuff and nonsense · gibber · gossip · crock of shit · santorum · lallation · natter · bushwah · claptrap · malarkey · skimble-skamble · double talk · blah · hot air · horseshit · batcrap · moonshine

Translations (15)

ast esbabaye (babble) · grc λάλημα (babble) · da pludren (babble) · no bable (babble) · fi pälätys (babble) · sv joller (babble) · gd goileam (babble) · bg бърборене (babble) · ga gliogar (babble) · ru ле́пет (babble) · de Geplapper (babble) · ga cabaireacht (babble) · ru болтовня́ (babble) · sv pladder (babble) · grc λαλαγή (babble)

prattle en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈpɹætəl/

Etymology

From prate + -le (early modern English frequentative suffix). Compare Dutch pruttelen and Dutch preutelen (“to mutter”).

Meanings

1. (ambitransitive) To speak incessantly and in an inconsequential or childish manner; to babble.
   • And as E. Rushmore Coglan prattled of this little planet I thought with glee of a great almost-cosmopolite who wrote for the whole world and dedicated himself to Bombay. 1906, O. Henry, A Cosmopolite in a Café:
   • I looked across at Anna, and I noticed that her eyes had grown strangely blank, without expression. I felt instinctively that the subject brought up by Victor was one she would not have chosen. Victor, insensitive to this, went prattling on. 1952, Daphne Du Maurier, “Monte Verità”, in The Apple Tree:

Forms

Antonyms

pontificate · speechify · orate

Deriveds

prattlingly · prattlement · prattlesome · prattler · prattlebox

Hypernyms

speak

Hyponyms

talk a blue streak · sperg · gossip · talk a mile a minute

Relateds

talkative · chatterbox

Synonyms

palaver · tattle · ramble · gibber · prate · go on · chit-chat · clepe · rabbit on · blab · clack · chatter · witter · yap · jabber · yabber · wibble · drivel · chinwag · carp · chat · maunder · gabble · waffle · babble · chew the fat · yack · chew the rag · smatter · prattle · rabbit · shoot the shit · yatter · bat the breeze · shoot the breeze · natter · piffle · claver · twaddle · blabber · shoot the bull · chunner · blather

Translations (41)

ga bí ag cabaireacht (to talk incessantly; to babble) · mk ломоти (to talk incessantly; to babble) · mi hote (to talk incessantly; to babble) · gl esbardallar (to talk incessantly; to babble) · fr bavarder (to talk incessantly; to babble) · lt vapalioti (to talk incessantly; to babble) · nl ratelen (to talk incessantly; to babble) · vi bập bẹ (to talk incessantly; to babble) · bg бърборя (to talk incessantly; to babble) · mi tarawhete (to talk incessantly; to babble) · pl zbajtlować (to talk incessantly; to babble) · pl paplać (to talk incessantly; to babble) · ka ყბედობა (to talk incessantly; to babble) · sa लपति (to talk incessantly; to babble) · vi bi bô (to talk incessantly; to babble) · grc φλυαρέω (to talk incessantly; to babble) · mi hautete (to talk incessantly; to babble) · ru лепета́ть (to talk incessantly; to babble) · pl bajtlować (to talk incessantly; to babble) · el κελαηδώ (to talk incessantly; to babble) · gl barballar (to talk incessantly; to babble) · te ప్రేలు (to talk incessantly; to babble) · ru болта́ть (to talk incessantly; to babble) · ar بَقَّ (to talk incessantly; to babble) · mi pahupahu (to talk incessantly; to babble) · el φλυαρώ (to talk incessantly; to babble) · ka ლაქლაქი (to talk incessantly; to babble) · pt tagarelar (to talk incessantly; to babble) · ast esbabayar (to talk incessantly; to babble) · gl laretar (to talk incessantly; to babble) · da pludre (to talk incessantly; to babble) · fi pälättää (to talk incessantly; to babble) · ru трепа́ться (to talk incessantly; to babble) · de schwatzen (to talk incessantly; to babble) · da plapre (to talk incessantly; to babble) · ka ტიტინი (to talk incessantly; to babble) · hu csacsog (to talk incessantly; to babble) · cs plkat (to talk incessantly; to babble) · ka ტიკტიკი (to talk incessantly; to babble) · la garriō (to talk incessantly; to babble) · gl barallar (to talk incessantly; to babble)