chatterbox
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of chatterbox
First recorded in 1765–75; i.e., person whose voice box chatters constantly
Explanation
A chatterbox is a person who tends to use a whole lot of words without having much of anything to say. If you're constantly whispering to your friend during math class, your annoyed teacher might call you a chatterbox. The informal word chatterbox is the perfect term for the annoying, incessant talker you always seem to end up sitting next to on long plane trips. Chatterbox dates from the 1770s, a combination of chatter, an echoic or onomatopoeic word, and box, giving chatterbox the sense of "a box or container full of idle chatter."
Vocabulary lists containing chatterbox
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He retired as Mr. Chatterbox a few years ago.
From New York Times • Jun. 16, 2023
John went on to set up Chatterbox, a men's mental health charity and a health walking group, to battle the effects of the pandemic.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2022
I’m A Chatterbox stayed with her throughout the backstretch then started to fade in the far turn just as Beholder started to rally.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 4, 2016
Q. Re: Chatterbox mom: Please talk to your mother about this.
From Slate • Sep. 30, 2013
Maybe she had read a poem from Chatterbox with gestures.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
