flibbertigibbet

American  

[flib-er-tee-jib-it] / ˈflɪb ər tiˌdʒɪb ɪt /

noun

1. a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

2. Archaic. a gossip.

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flibbertigibbet British  

/ ˈflɪbətɪˌdʒɪbɪt /

noun

1. an irresponsible, silly, or gossipy person

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Etymology

Origin of flibbertigibbet

1425–75; late Middle English flepergebet, flipergebet; reduplicative compound of obscure origin

Explanation

A flibbertigibbet is a very silly chatterbox. If your teacher calls you a flibbertigibbet, she clearly doesn't think you're a serious or scholarly person. The noun flibbertigibbet is a colorful — if slightly old fashioned — word for a ridiculous busybody, someone who talks and gossips a lot but doesn't have much of any substance to say. It's most often used to talk about a frivolous young woman. Flibbertigibbet is a Middle English invention, a word that sounds like meaningless chatter, and it's still used fairly often in Yorkshire, England.

Example Sentences

In King Lear, Shakespeare blamed rust's presence on a "foul fiend" named Flibbertigibbet.

From Time Magazine Archive

“Why, Flibbertigibbet, you are a pretty girl,” he declared, and was even more amazed at the gay laugh with which Louise answered him.

From A Little Maid of Ticonderoga by Smith, Wuanita

Freckles and Flibbertigibbet dared scarcely breathe; it was so much better than the Marchioness of Isola Bella, for this one was real and alive—oh, yes, very much alive!

From Flamsted quarries by Nelson, G. Patrick

Flibbertigibbet was a black imp who appeared one day in the market-place, and playing a jig on his fiddle, set all the people dancing whether they would or no.

From Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910 by Elliott, Maud Howe

Within a quarter of an hour the three were snugly ensconced in the window niche of the "cubby-hole," so Flibbertigibbet termed the robing-room closet, and looking with all their eyes across the street.

From Flamsted quarries by Nelson, G. Patrick