prattle
Americanverb (used without object)
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prattles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
prattled,
past participle, past
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prattling
present participle
verb (used with object)
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prattles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
prattled,
past participle, past
-
prattling
present participle
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
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prattlessimple
-
have prattledperfect
-
has prattledperfect
-
am prattlingprogressive
-
are prattlingprogressive
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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:
Mr. Friedman’s book is full of technocorporate prattle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
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
In the background, I can hear the prattle of the child, and Tom says something away from the phone, something I can’t hear.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
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
Sasha prattles through an interior monologue of such unrelenting vitriol about himself, his art and the world around him that he seems hollowed out, a black hole masquerading as a person.
From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2021
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
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
My mother cooked and prattled, my grandfather was severe but kindly, the farm prospered.
From New York Times ● Sep. 6, 2017
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
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
Devieilhe, with a smooth tone like light cream, gave Constance’s prattling utterances an air of ingenuous wisdom, beautifully balancing Pérez’s tightly wound, self-conscious Blanche.
From New York Times ● Jan. 16, 2023
I used my prattling pate and said, “You’re beautiful.”
From The Verge ● Apr. 14, 2022
Gloria had a grip about the robot’s neck that would have asphyxiated any creature but one of metal, and was prattling nonsense in half-hysterical frenzy.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
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.
