drivel

[driv-uh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR drivel ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

saliva flowing from the mouth, or mucus from the nose; slaver.

childish, silly, or meaningless talk or thinking; nonsense; twaddle.

verb (used without object), driv·eled, driv·el·ing or (especially British) driv·elled, driv·el·ling.

to let saliva flow from the mouth or mucus from the nose; slaver.

to talk childishly or idiotically.

Archaic. to issue like spittle.

verb (used with object), driv·eled, driv·el·ing or (especially British) driv·elled, driv·el·ling.

to utter childishly or idiotically.

to waste foolishly.

Origin of drivel

before 1000; Middle English dryvelen, variant of drevelen, Old English dreflian; akin to draff

Related formsdriv·el·er; especially British, driv·el·ler, noundriv·el·ing·ly; especially British, driv·el·ling·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for drivel

babble, blather, gibberish, tripe, nonsense, hogwash, gobbledygook, jabber, bunk, hooey, poppycock, rubbish, balderdash, rot, twaddle, prating, Greek, prate, ramble, blabber

Examples from the Web for drivel

Contemporary Examples of drivel

Is Christopher Nolan's Inception a masterpiece, drivel, too confusing?
The War Over Inception
Allen Barra
July 20, 2010
VinnyB What's crazy, Ms. Brown, is why two respected journalists would waste their time on this drivel.
Best of the Beast Comments
The Daily Beast
January 15, 2010

Historical Examples of drivel

I'm willing to be decent about it, Tom, but I don't want to listen to drivel like that.
Left End Edwards
Ralph Henry Barbour
All the drivel you got in the Union wont wash in practical politics.
John Brown
Captain R. W. Campbell
Five of the fellows read that drivel and decided to follow the suggestion.
Quarter-Back Bates
Ralph Henry Barbour
For the moment, she had forgotten his use of the term: drivel.
Twos and Threes
G. B. Stern
She gets you a job on the paper and then you go and slate her drivel to Jaysus.
Ulysses
James Joyce

British Dictionary definitions for drivel

drivel

verb -els, -elling or -elled or US -els, -eling or -eled

to allow (saliva) to flow from the mouth; dribble

(intr) to speak foolishly or childishly

noun

foolish or senseless talk

saliva flowing from the mouth; slaver

Derived Formsdriveller or US driveler, noun

Word Origin for drivel

Old English dreflian to slaver; see draff

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for drivel

Old English dreflian "to dribble or run at the nose, slobber," from Proto-Germanic *drablojanan, from PIE *dher- "to make muddy." Meaning "to speak nonsense" is mid-14c. Related: Driveling, drivelling.

early 14c., drevel "saliva, slaver," from drivel (v.). Meaning "idiotic speech or writing" is from 1852.