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
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
have prattledperfect
-
has prattledperfect 3rd person singular
-
has been prattlingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
-
is prattlingprogressive 3rd person singular
-
am prattlingprogressive 1st person singular
-
have been prattlingperfect progressive
-
are prattlingprogressive
-
prattlingparticiple
-
prattlessingular 3rd person
Past
-
had prattledperfect
-
had been prattlingperfect progressive
-
was prattlingprogressive singular
-
were prattlingprogressive plural
-
prattledsimple
-
prattledparticiple
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.
Prattle about theatrical art stirs him to open contempt.
From Time Magazine Archive
Prattle away all you please," he said, "but I mean it.
From At Good Old Siwash by Fitch, George
You make me shudder when you say you are reading the "Prattle" of years.
From The Letters of Ambrose Bierce With a Memoir by George Sterling by Bierce, Ambrose
The keenest, most incisive, most telling contemporary criticism was found in the column he used to contribute to the San Francisco Examiner, "Prattle: A Transient Record of Individual Opinion."
From The Scrap Book. Volume 1, No. 2 April 1906 by Various
Prattle: But, but, you can't think that you could see Fame, you don't expect to see it? de Reves: Not to me.
From Plays of Near & Far by Dunsany, Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Baron
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.
