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Synonyms

jabber

American  
[jab-er] / ˈdʒæb ər /

verb (used with or without object)

  • jabbers,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • jabbered,
    past participle,  past
  • jabbering
    present participle
  1. to talk or utter rapidly, indistinctly, incoherently, or nonsensically; chatter.


noun

  • jabbers
    plural
  1. rapid, indistinct, or nonsensical talk; gibberish.

jabber British  
/ ˈdʒæbə /

verb

  1. to speak or say rapidly, incoherently, and without making sense; chatter

"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

noun

  1. such talk

"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

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Etymology

Origin of jabber

1490–1500; apparently imitative; cf. gibber, gab 1


Explanation

When someone starts to jabber, they start talking on and on about this or that, or that or this, in an excited, sometimes incoherent way. Jabber is a close cousin to blabber. When someone jabbers, sometimes their words seem to fly out of their mouths like quick punches (jabs!) from a boxer. Some examples of jabber? You know, like when someone has a hobby that you don’t really care about or understand but they won’t quit talking about it? Yeah, they jabber. Or your best friend is relating, without end, his excitement about the coming tiddlywinks championship and you comprehend neither the game nor its importance? That friend jabbers, too.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing jabber

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Marine Le Pen said the press conference was "yet another interminable jabber".

From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2024

This accursed Olympiad has brought a lot—a lot—of jabber about diversity and inclusion and athlete safety and athlete centeredness.

From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2021

If there were, the loudest mouth and wittiest jabber would have thought of it by now.

From Washington Post ● May 4, 2020

A talking head spewing out well scripted "jibber jabber" to appease the masses.

From New York Times ● Mar. 14, 2016

So the guests ate and drank and jabbered; and they watched the other guests eat and drink and jabber.

From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin

The men’s antagonism deepens as Wake jabbers and Winslow rages, a fury that Pattinson makes visible with eyes that widen into bulges and tremors of emotion that ping under a masklike vacancy.

From New York Times ● Oct. 16, 2019

Lorena jabbers on about something, but I’m not really paying attention because she calls herself a restauraNteur, so she loses all credibility in my book.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 17, 2011

"Yeah, John Kirk, yeah!" writes, or shouts, or yells, or jabbers Piers Gee.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 16, 2010

Now, in orchestrated and intermittent darkness, something less familiar is afoot as Firs, an old man in a nightshirt, with staring eyes, urges us to enter and jabbers at us in Russian.

From The Guardian ● May 8, 2010

And unless he jabbers they call him stilted.

From Bolanyo by Opie Percival Read

We jabbered about whether Bryant was better than Michael Jordan and the intense rivalry between the Sixers and the Lakers in the 1980s as we waited for Bryant’s face to flash again on the screen.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2024

It was a woman in a blue dress who stood in a stairwell above them, gazing upward in a warm beam of light as Rep. Matt Gaetz jabbered at her feet.

From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2019

The Oakland, Calif., native was one of the game's notorious trash-talkers, who jabbered away at opposing players, coaches and fans while constantly bobbing his head.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 4, 2013

The UN have intervened on flimsier grounds than those offered by Ashley Cole and Bellamy as they jabbered and jabbed their way through the first half-hour, until Bellamy, regrettably, switched flanks.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 26, 2011

The guests jabbered on and on about the weather, about food, about football, about chess, about twins.

From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin

After jabbering about it since 2023, Tyreek Hill and Noah Lyles announced they are going to race, but the speed freaks can’t say where and can’t say when.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2025

The incessant jabbering between Joe Davis and Orel Hershiser during every Dodgers game has ruined the game-watching experience for me.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2024

When it’s time to stop jabbering and start jabbing, he believes there will be a big difference against a fighter who’s had only about half as many professional fights.

From Seattle Times ● May 27, 2022

Meanwhile, she warps the expectations of verse-chorus-verse forms, talk-singing or chanting as long as she wishes, sometimes letting choruses of overdubbed Fionas — dulcet ones, jabbering ones — completely hijack her tunes.

From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2020

It was smelly and very noisy because the occupants of these cages were all squeaking, squawking, jabbering, or hissing.

From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling

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