drivel
Americannoun
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saliva flowing from the mouth, or mucus from the nose; slaver.
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childish, silly, or meaningless talk or thinking; nonsense; twaddle.
verb (used without object)
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to let saliva flow from the mouth or mucus from the nose; slaver.
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to talk childishly or idiotically.
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Archaic. to issue like spittle.
verb (used with object)
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to utter childishly or idiotically.
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to waste foolishly.
verb
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to allow (saliva) to flow from the mouth; dribble
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(intr) to speak foolishly or childishly
noun
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foolish or senseless talk
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saliva flowing from the mouth; slaver
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of drivel
before 1000; Middle English dryvelen, variant of drevelen, Old English dreflian; akin to draff
Explanation
Drivel is useless, boring, nonsensical information. Your parents might think the articles in your favorite fashion magazine are drivel (but they'll change their tune when you become a famous designer). Etymologists suspect drivel comes to us from the Old Norse word draf, meaning "malt dregs." This would make sense, given that drivel is usually talk or writing about as useless as dregs. If you don't prepare for an oral report, the unfortunate result may be that your teacher finds your disorganized ramblings to be pure drivel. Drivel also means to dribble saliva. If a friendly dog licks your hand, leaving it wet and gooey, you can assume he driveled on it.
Vocabulary lists containing drivel
There's No There There: Synonyms for "Empty"
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"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 2
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"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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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.
Or, maybe we should just realize that, no matter age or life experience, some of us never get it and remain trapped in a Mindless Drivel Bubble.
From Washington Post • Jan. 30, 2013
At least not the laugh-out-loud-and-frighten-the-horses funny of Martin's early stand-up comedy, or of his performance as the man-woman in All of Me, or the humor pieces in his collection Pure Drivel.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Drivel," retorted Walter L. Allen, safety education chief of the Alabama Public Safety Department.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Yorkshire Post declared: "Drivel and snivel, in days of challenge and strain, may almost be classed as a minor form of Fifth Column activity."
From Time Magazine Archive
Drool, drool, v.i. to slaver—a form of Drivel.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
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.
