fiddle-faddle

[fid-l-fad-l]

See more synonyms for fiddle-faddle on Thesaurus.com

noun

verb (used without object), fid·dle-fad·dled, fid·dle-fad·dling.

to fuss with trifles.

interjection

(used to express irritation, impatience, etc.)

Origin of fiddle-faddle

First recorded in 1570–80; gradational compound based on fiddle

Related formsfid·dle-fad·dler, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for fiddle-faddle

hogwash, frippery, froth, triviality, bunk, baloney, frivolity, bull, malarkey, minutia, trifle, flummery

Examples from the Web for fiddle-faddle

Historical Examples of fiddle-faddle

Well might the merit of your passion be doubted, you say, if, like Mr. Solmes—fiddle-faddle!
Clarissa, Volume 2 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
Dost thou think I will fiddle-faddle about myself like a woman?
An Orkney Maid
Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
Is she crying out her eyes over that piece of fiddle-faddle?
The Maidens' Lodge
Emily Sarah Holt
There's a lot of "fiddle-faddle" wrapped up in that word "inspiration."
The Fiction Factory
John Milton Edwards
He said one day to me, "Why don't you give up your fiddle-faddle of geology and zoology, and turn to the occult sciences?"
Charles Darwin: His Life in an Autobiographical Chapter, and in a Selected Series of His Published Letters
Charles Darwin

British Dictionary definitions for fiddle-faddle

fiddle-faddle

noun, interjection

trivial matter; nonsense

verb

(intr) to fuss or waste time, esp over trivial matters

Derived Formsfiddle-faddler, noun

Word Origin for fiddle-faddle

C16: reduplication of fiddle

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 fiddle-faddle

1570s (n.); 1630s (v.), apparently a reduplication of obsolete faddle "to trifle."