Showing results for "babbling"

• present participle of babble.

babbling

American  

[bab-ling] / ˈbæb lɪŋ /

noun

1. foolish or meaningless chatter; prattle.

   the constant babbling of idle gossips.

2. the random production of meaningless vocal sounds characteristic of infants around the age of three months.

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adjective

1. chattering or prattling aimlessly.

   The babbling crowd quieted and funneled back into the auditorium at the end of intermission.

2. making a continuous murmuring sound.

   a babbling brook.

Other Word Forms

• babblingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of babbling

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English babelinde, bablyng; see origin at babble, -ing ¹ (for the noun senses), -ing ² (for the adjective)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

babbling

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

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

That is not to say it would have been particularly shrewd for the president to have wandered into the Rose Garden and started babbling about what a “very fine person” Luigi Mangione is.

From Slate ● Apr. 1, 2025

“He was rambling, babbling on about crowd sizes and immigration and President Joe Biden and whatever else seemed to pass through his mind,” he wrote.

From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2024

I hear people moving and shifting, and some babies babbling and their mothers shushing them.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau