palaver
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
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to talk profusely and idly.
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to parley or confer.
verb (used with object)
noun
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tedious or time-consuming business, esp when of a formal nature
all the palaver of filling in forms
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loud and confused talk and activity; hubbub
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(often used humorously) a conference
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rare talk intended to flatter or persuade
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an argument
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trouble arising from an argument
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verb
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(intr) (often used humorously) to have a conference
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(intr) to talk loudly and confusedly
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(tr) to flatter or cajole
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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palaversimple
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palaverssimple
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have palaveredperfect
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has palaveredperfect
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am palaveringprogressive
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are palaveringprogressive
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is palaveringprogressive
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have been palaveringperfect progressive
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has been palaveringperfect progressive
Past
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palaveredsimple
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had palaveredperfect
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was palaveringprogressive
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were palaveringprogressive
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had been palaveringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of palaver
First recorded in 1710–20; noun from Portuguese palavra “word, speech, talk,” from Late Latin parabola parable; verb derivative of the noun
Explanation
Palaver is a type of empty nonsense or useless talk. During an election year, you might tire of hearing the palaver of politicians. Whether you call it malarkey, hokum, mumbo-jumbo, or truthiness, there are a lot of words for talk that cannot be trusted or believed. Palaver is part of this club. Specifically, palaver tends to be hot air — empty words from a blowhard. Palaver can also be sweet talk — a type of flattery. You can use this word as a verb too: by palavering, you might try to impress someone or get someone to do you a favor.
Vocabulary lists containing palaver
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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Talk the Talk: Synonyms for "Wordy"
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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
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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:
What has followed might be best described as a messy, noisy palaver.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
Kéré’s strong affinity for his native land informs his practice — he references local symbols like the baobab or palaver tree; a traditional blue boubou garment he wore as a child.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2022
Perhaps one upside of the palaver is that Radnor residents have become more politically engaged.
From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2021
The subject of minimalism is rife with mental thickets like this, even without art-world palaver to muddy the waters.
From Slate ● Jan. 20, 2020
Then there was always a palaver with the greatcoat as she got going again, and near misses with puddles.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
He did not just excavate the ethos of Africa from bygone times, he also reflected the present: bringing to life everyone from the politicians to the prostitutes, and prophesied the palavers that were to come.
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2020
A girl palavers with a strange man with a tie on his head.
From Washington Post ● May 25, 2017
A minor palaver ensued, prolonged as much as possible by the sort of internet crusaders who devote their lives to prolonging minor palavers.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 10, 2012
After months of surrealist palavers, the princes finally met last week in the capital city of Vientiane.
From Time Magazine Archive
They administer justice as magistrates, decide palavers according to the unwritten law of custom, summon offenders, and inflict the punishment due.
From Fetichism in West Africa Forty Years' Observations of Native Customs and Superstitions by Nassau, Robert Hamill
Eons ago, in the dark ages of video stores, adventurers navigated labyrinthine aisles and palavered with part-time archmaesters to find treasured artifacts of the fantasy film genre.
From The Verge ● Jun. 2, 2018
In the back country, often carried in a hammock, the traditional mode of travel for Liberian VIPs, he palavered endlessly with jungle chiefs.
From Time Magazine Archive
All week long, under giant camelthorn trees at Serowe, thatched-hut capital of the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland in South Africa, the tar-black chieftains of the Bamangwato tribe pondered and palavered.
From Time Magazine Archive
On the road to Callender House, while Charlie and Victorine palavered together--"I cannot quite make out," minced the French-speaking grandmother to Flora, "the real reason why you are doing this."
From Kincaid's Battery by Kimball, Alonzo
They talked an' palavered outside, an' telephoned th' chief iv polis, an' more pathrol wagons come up.
From Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War by Dunne, Finley Peter
Such palavering is wasted time for a woman facing a literal deadline.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2023
Mr. Suh’s preoccupation is with the construction and collapse of identity, which we witness both in the Charlie Chan scenes and in those that feature Frank and his friends rehearsing and palavering.
From New York Times ● Nov. 10, 2015
Fifteen months ago, the Central broke off merger talks with the Pennsylvania, the biggest U.S. railroad, after palavering for 14 months without agreement.
From Time Magazine Archive
While palavering with Jack Paar before millions of viewers not long ago, Georgie went on and on about his watch, a Bulova.
From Time Magazine Archive
Don't stand there palavering all day, but out with you and see if there's a fish on the lines for breakfast.
From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Tom Sawyer's Comrade by Twain, Mark
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
