blather
Americannoun
verb (used with or without object)
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blathers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blathered,
past participle, past
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blathering
present participle
verb
noun
-
foolish talk; nonsense
-
a person who blathers
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
blathersimple
-
blatherssimple
-
have blatheredperfect
-
has blatheredperfect
-
am blatheringprogressive
-
are blatheringprogressive
-
is blatheringprogressive
-
have been blatheringperfect progressive
-
has been blatheringperfect progressive
Past
-
blatheredsimple
-
had blatheredperfect
-
was blatheringprogressive
-
were blatheringprogressive
-
had been blatheringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blather
From Middle English; Old Norse blathra “to chatter, blabber”
Explanation
To blather is to talk on and on without saying anything very important or wise. If you blather all afternoon, it might be a welcome distraction to your friend who's grieving the death of her cat. You can use the word blather as a noun too: you might hate riding the bus home from school because of all the silly blather around you. At a job, it might be acceptable to blather during your lunch break, but not once you get back to work. The verb came first, and it was originally Scottish, probably from the Old Norse word blaðra, "mutter or wag the tongue."
Vocabulary lists containing blather
The Hunger Games
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Speak
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Ghost
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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.
See Examples For:
In fact, I expected the outcome since about day seven, including China’s role in bringing about a settlement, though minus any blather on my part about a victory for the mullahs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
"All this blather about Mr Adams being a member of the army council is not something you have to decide," he told the jury.
From BBC ● May 7, 2025
After all the idealistic blather on both sides, it boils down to TV money, and Florida State sold its soul to that devil long, long ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2023
They may be cutting back on how much he can blather on-air, but in the end, that's mainly to his benefit.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2023
For one thing, we couldn’t understand a word they were saying, since it was all private jokes and wealthy early-adopter sub-vuvv prep-school-blazer blather.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
If she wants to call witnesses to rebut specific lies he blathers, she can.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2021
Actually, these methods came from medicine .. which, contrary to most WashDC blathers, is as much soft-science as hard-science.
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2018
He blathers on about Picasso as a rogue sociopath, a narcissist out to make someone suffer, maybe his mom or his dad or himself or the whole world.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 17, 2012
The Portuguese, meanwhile, hardly dare express hope in their striker, O Jogo merely announcing what is at stake by headlining "Bento banks on Postiga", while A Bola blathers about a titanic battle with Vikings.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 13, 2012
Heather paints her nails on her desk blotter and blathers.
From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson
For now, though, Koepka is ascendant, and for all the reasons I've blathered on about for the last four hours, what he's accomplished in the past two years is more than just remarkable—it's singular.
From Golf Digest ● May 19, 2019
On television, they gave stumbling advice or blathered into obnoxious temper tantrums or flaunted their cosmic ineptitude at the flames of the charcoal grill.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2016
Pundits blathered above a ticker of the latest headlines.
From Slate ● Feb. 1, 2015
The Holmesdale captain, Mark Epps, rejected a request to delay the start – "This isn't friendly schoolboy cricket," he blathered, hugging his Little Book of Mental Disintegration.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 9, 2011
The lieu-tenant blathered on about major versus minor offenses, the need to make judgments, and so on, apparently expecting me to say, “Oh, I get it!” and withdraw from his office.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
And don’t be surprised if I think you’re a blathering chucklehead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2025
So it just seems like some blathering by a professor, and that is frustrating.
From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2024
“I was letting off steam and it was more online blathering than anything,” he said.
From New York Times ● Nov. 22, 2021
Then, when he’s wrong, which is often enough, we have to hear him blathering apologies and falling all over himself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2020
Despite his riding-in-silence comment, Coach was blathering on, probably telling me a story, but I wasn't really listening.
From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds
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.
