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drivel

[driv-uh l]
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noun
  1. saliva flowing from the mouth, or mucus from the nose; slaver.
  2. childish, silly, or meaningless talk or thinking; nonsense; twaddle.
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verb (used without object), driv·eled, driv·el·ing or (especially British) driv·elled, driv·el·ling.
  1. to let saliva flow from the mouth or mucus from the nose; slaver.
  2. to talk childishly or idiotically.
  3. Archaic. to issue like spittle.
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verb (used with object), driv·eled, driv·el·ing or (especially British) driv·elled, driv·el·ling.
  1. to utter childishly or idiotically.
  2. to waste foolishly.
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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. 2018

Related Words

babbleblathergibberishtripenonsensehogwashgobbledygookjabberbunkhooeypoppycockrubbishbalderdashrottwaddlepratingGreekpraterambleblabber

Examples from the Web for drivel

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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
  1. to allow (saliva) to flow from the mouth; dribble
  2. (intr) to speak foolishly or childishly
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noun
  1. foolish or senseless talk
  2. saliva flowing from the mouth; slaver
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Derived Formsdriveller or US driveler, noun

Word Origin

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

v.

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.

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n.

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper