babble
Americanverb (used without object)
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babbles,
present (3rd person singular)
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babbled,
past participle, past
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babbling
present participle
verb (used with object)
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babbles,
present (3rd person singular)
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babbled,
past participle, past
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babbling
present participle
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to utter in an incoherent, foolish, or meaningless fashion.
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to reveal foolishly or thoughtlessly.
to babble a secret.
noun
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inarticulate or imperfect speech.
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foolish, meaningless, or incoherent speech; prattle.
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a murmuring sound or a confusion of sounds.
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Telecommunications. a confused mixture of extraneous sounds in a circuit, resulting from cross talk from other channels.
verb
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to utter (words, sounds, etc) in an incoherent or indistinct jumble
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(intr) to talk foolishly, incessantly, or irrelevantly
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(tr) to disclose (secrets, confidences, etc) carelessly or impulsively
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(intr) (of streams, birds, etc) to make a low murmuring or bubbling sound
noun
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incoherent or foolish speech; chatter
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a murmuring or bubbling sound
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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babblesimple
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babblessimple
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have babbledperfect
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has babbledperfect
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am babblingprogressive
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are babblingprogressive
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is babblingprogressive
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have been babblingperfect progressive
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has been babblingperfect progressive
Past
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babbledsimple
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had babbledperfect
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was babblingprogressive
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were babblingprogressive
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had been babblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of babble
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English babelen; cognate with Old Norse babbla, Dutch babbelen, German pappelen
Explanation
To babble is to talk on and on without a particular goal. It might drive you crazy when your little sister babbles endlessly about her favorite video game. Babble sounds like Babel, the Biblical tower where everyone was talking in their own language. Everyone was babbling without paying attention to their neighbors, like the kid who won’t stop talking about his trip to the water park three years ago. A stream or a brook can babble, too, but that’s more of a soothing sound of water against rocks. Babies gurgle, because they don’t have enough words to babble yet.
Vocabulary lists containing babble
Instead of "Said": Words That Sound Like What They Mean
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Mother's Day Words: What Mothers Do
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Unit 4: Powerful Openings
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Instead he softened the blow with corporate babble: “You were building the plane while you flew it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
Meanwhile, the southern pied babbler does not, in fact, merely babble.
From Salon ● May 29, 2025
Above us swallows dart through the air, Graeme takes a picture of a damsel fly and the brook to our side continues to babble.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2024
At long last, however, I went to sleep listening to the soothing babble of running water outside my bedroom window.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2024
The elevator stopped; the doors opened and he saw a restless crowd of people and heard a babble of voices.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
"He's hitting his milestones just as he should be, and he's putting on weight nicely while giving us lots of laughs and babbles; everything a baby should be doing," he added.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2025
He inserted reams of text in his work, added babbles of voices, stopped and started the flow, inundated the soundtrack with music, flooded the screen with color.
From New York Times ● Sep. 13, 2022
A pond babbles outside the window, and a garden of succulents climbs up to claim the wooden exterior walls.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2022
I listened to their babbles and tried to echo the sounds I heard.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 15, 2022
But Mags tugs on my sleeve and babbles on until I’ve given the awl to her.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
I spent days pressing a light-up toy when we said his name to draw his attention and babbled incessantly in his face so he could copy my lip patterns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
German reports said Arthur E was a diamond trader who had "babbled like a brook" after his arrest.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2023
Sophie babbled to herself on the floor beneath them.
From Slate ● Mar. 25, 2023
Parents wiping schmear from their children's cheeks as the little ones babbled and squawked.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2022
Lupita mourned for him as the young woman babbled to Salvador, “Gracias, gracias, thank you for what you did for me.”
From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty
In the book, most homes have parlor walls with huge video screens that broadcast streams of babbling commentary for both entertainment and manipulation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The phrase echoed the one I had spoken years earlier to a babbling toddler in a Baltimore church.
From Slate ● Mar. 29, 2026
Haden Pentecost, 41, was working on a flight from California to London when he started to become agitated and was described as "sweating" and "babbling".
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2025
The question left Pearce reeling, babbling out a reply that his laptop had automatically switched in an incorrect address on documents he’d uploaded.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2025
“Great-backed what? Puffins? What on earth are you babbling on about? Let me pass!”
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
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.
