chatterbox

American  

[chat-er-boks] / ˈtʃæt ərˌbɒks /

noun

1. an excessively talkative person.

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chatterbox British  

/ ˈtʃætəˌbɒks /

noun

1. informal a person who talks constantly, esp about trivial matters

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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."

Example Sentences

Her Elphaba is quiet and tender, a perfect complement to Grande’s joke-cracking chatterbox Glinda.

From Salon • Nov. 19, 2024

She should have already taken home at least one Academy Award, maybe two, starting with her disarming, comic turn as the chatterbox pregnant wife in “Junebug.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 15, 2024

“I am not leaving here. I am ready for them to bury me here,” said Kahlon, a gruff but amiable chatterbox with a grey beard and beret.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 12, 2023

"It was hard because I'm a bit of a chatterbox and I'm quite open," she said.

From BBC • Mar. 17, 2023

He was almost impossible to overlook, in fact, if only because he was a chatterbox and a prankster and he made himself conspicuous.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown