prattle
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
-
the act of prattling.
-
chatter; babble.
the prattle of children.
-
a babbling sound.
the prattle of water rushing over stones.
verb
-
(intr) to talk in a foolish or childish way; babble
-
(tr) to utter in a foolish or childish way
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
prattlesimple
-
prattlessimple
-
have prattledperfect
-
has prattledperfect
-
am prattlingprogressive
-
are prattlingprogressive
-
is prattlingprogressive
-
have been prattlingperfect progressive
-
has been prattlingperfect progressive
Past
-
prattledsimple
-
had prattledperfect
-
was prattlingprogressive
-
were prattlingprogressive
-
had been prattlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of prattle
1525–35; < Middle Low German pratelen to chatter, frequentative of praten to prate; see -le
Explanation
To prattle is to go on and on about something unimportant. Some people don't like your constant prattling about your collection of Lego figurines — but you're convinced it's the most fascinating topic on the planet! Prattle can also be a noun. If your little sister won't leave you and your friends alone, you might complain to your parents about her constant prattle. And the constant prattle of the person in the next seat might make it difficult for you to nap on that long airplane trip. There are a lot of funny-sounding words with a meaning similar to prattle: chatter, blether, blather, jabber, gabble, blabber, and babble, to name a few.
Vocabulary lists containing prattle
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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:
I can’t think of many, but if you ask any “SNL” diehard — even just a regular viewer — about Michaels, they’ll likely prattle off some fun facts to you.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026
Some of the prattle can feel like treading water, a delaying tactic until the inevitable confrontation scene.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
Sick, awesome, amazing, I continued to prattle on.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2025
I find a similar kind of nonsensical prattle in various corners of our Blue Seattle.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2024
“Yes, yes, I do prattle on sometimes. I like it when you call me Mr. Remington. I’m going to have to remember to tell Ralph that We must have people address us that way.”
From "Mississippi Trial, 1955" by Chris Crowe
I think often about his 2014 appearance on “WTF with Marc Maron” because you can hear Maron’s frustration at Mulaney’s composure build while he prattles charmingly on.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 26, 2023
Rachel, who narrates the novel, prattles on about her love life, her parents, and the cartoonishly loud suits of her journalist boss.
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2020
Like Judge Moore, he prattles about the Constitution; like Judge Moore, he hasn't read it and couldn't understand it if he should read it.
From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2017
White Pants! over and over again while Len prattles on.
From Time ● May 23, 2012
At three years of age, he prattles like my father did, but I attend to every lisping word he speaks.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
"With Obama, we won an election that everyone said couldn't be won," he prattled on in a speech in Washington, D.C. last week.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2023
In another segment, after seeing a dump truck on the streets of New York, he prattled on giddily, “Honk! Honk! goes the truck.”
From The New Yorker ● May 8, 2017
She prattled on to her husband and dug around in her black matelassé purse.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2017
But reading the boredom on Rada’s face, and desperate to impress a superior, he pulled out his tablet and instead prattled on about his secret discovery, demonstrating the loophole right there on his screen.
From Slate
She ran on, through a tangled fringe of gossip, never seeing that these names were alien to him, they meant nothing, and that as she prattled unaware he grew colder and more silent.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
He’s been prattling on about Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” and sharing Facebook nonsense about centurions ever since.
From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2025
There’s a prattling aspect to Icke’s delaying tactics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025
I used my prattling pate and said, “You’re beautiful.”
From The Verge ● Apr. 14, 2022
She watches “Peppa Pig,” which I, of course, hate — those British pigs with their phallic noses prattling on about nothing.
From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2022
The man continued prattling on, and he was treated with the utmost respect.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
