flibbertigibbet

American  

[flib-er-tee-jib-it] / ˈflɪb ər tiˌdʒɪb ɪt /

noun

1. a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

2. Archaic. a gossip.

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flibbertigibbet British  

/ ˈflɪbətɪˌdʒɪbɪt /

noun

1. an irresponsible, silly, or gossipy person

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Etymology

Origin of flibbertigibbet

1425–75; late Middle English flepergebet, flipergebet; reduplicative compound of obscure origin

Explanation

A flibbertigibbet is a very silly chatterbox. If your teacher calls you a flibbertigibbet, she clearly doesn't think you're a serious or scholarly person. The noun flibbertigibbet is a colorful — if slightly old fashioned — word for a ridiculous busybody, someone who talks and gossips a lot but doesn't have much of any substance to say. It's most often used to talk about a frivolous young woman. Flibbertigibbet is a Middle English invention, a word that sounds like meaningless chatter, and it's still used fairly often in Yorkshire, England.

Example Sentences

As Orlando, Duke of Oxford and the spy agency’s founder, Fiennes might read more cuddly than studly, but he lends a surprising gravitas to this flibbertigibbet feature.

From New York Times • Dec. 22, 2021

That left Jonathan with lifelong feelings of guilt, which led him on several occasions to announce that he was abandoning what he once called “this footling flibbertigibbet world of theater.”

From Seattle Times • Nov. 27, 2019

Laura is a bit of a flibbertigibbet with a poor grasp of colloquial expressions.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2017

Her strongest bid was her first nomination in 2006, playing the pregnant flibbertigibbet Ashley in “Junebug.”

From Salon • Feb. 28, 2016

The authors seem to be saying, “I couldn’t think of a more dignified way of putting this, but please don’t think I’m a flibbertigibbet who talks this way; I really am a serious scholar.”

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker