fiddle-faddle

American  

[fid-l-fad-l] / ˈfɪd lˌfæd l /

noun

1. nonsense.

2. something trivial.

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verb (used without object)

fiddle-faddled, fiddle-faddling

1. to fuss with trifles.

interjection

1. (used to express irritation, impatience, etc.)

fiddle-faddle British  

/ ˈfɪdəlˌfædəl /

noun

1. trivial matter; nonsense

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verb

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

Other Word Forms

• fiddle-faddler noun

Etymology

Origin of fiddle-faddle

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

Example Sentences

The music shifts between passages of slippery, out-of-focus tonal harmonies and episodes of rustic dance, like tart, fractured fiddle-faddle.

From New York Times

Another is a restless outburst of modernistic fiddle-faddle.

From New York Times

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?"

From Project Gutenberg

I should like to know what we have in common with that little fiddle-faddle Dresden china clock and shepherdesses upon the mantel-piece!

From Project Gutenberg

Nonsense, nonsense, fiddle-faddle! we’re all getting older, as a matter of fact, but you are still a young woman in the very prime of life.

From Project Gutenberg