piffle

American  

[pif-uhl] / ˈpɪf əl /

noun

1. nonsense, as trivial or senseless talk.

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verb (used without object)

piffled, piffling

1. to talk nonsense.

piffle British  

/ ˈpɪfəl /

noun

1. nonsense

   to talk piffle

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verb

1. (intr) to talk or behave feebly

Etymology

Origin of piffle

First recorded in 1840–50; perhaps akin to puff

Example Sentences

I defy you to tell me what this blithering piffle actually means.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025

They may sound like piffle, and perhaps they are, but they were formative.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2023

In the middle of the season, that is just a piffle.

From Washington Times • Mar. 4, 2019

The script’s insistence on the sanctity of the relationship between an artwork and its creator, and even of the relationships among artworks themselves, is some woo-woo, death-to–“The Death of the Author” piffle.

From Slate • Feb. 1, 2019

Am�lie's arguments were piffle or worse to her, and her willingness to undergo "martyrdom" for them was the most arrant pigheadedness, as the martyrdom of alien creeds usually is.

From In a Little Town by Hughes, Rupert