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twaddle

[twod-l]
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noun
  1. trivial, feeble, silly, or tedious talk or writing.
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verb (used without object), twad·dled, twad·dling.
  1. to talk in a trivial, feeble, silly, or tedious manner; prate.
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verb (used with object), twad·dled, twad·dling.
  1. to utter as twaddle.
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Origin of twaddle

1540–50; variant of twattle, blend of twiddle and tattle
Related formstwad·dler, nountwad·dly, adjective

Synonyms

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1. drivel, nonsense, prattle, rubbish.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for twaddle

Historical Examples

  • I'm a man of the world, and I can appreciate the exact value of that kind of twaddle.

    Henry Dunbar

    M. E. Braddon

  • How do you figure that kind of twaddle ties in with anything?

    Masters of Space

    Edward Elmer Smith

  • Will they throw their arms round your neck, and break forth into twaddle?

  • Cunningham must have his joke, so he is beguiling you with twaddle about hunting pearls.

    The Pagan Madonna

    Harold MacGrath

  • They aren't cooped up with servants and tea parties and twaddle.

    The Longest Journey

    E. M. Forster

British Dictionary definitions for twaddle

twaddle

noun
  1. silly, trivial, or pretentious talk or writing; nonsense
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verb
  1. to talk or write (something) in a silly or pretentious way
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Derived Formstwaddler, noun

Word Origin

C16 twattle, variant of twittle or tittle; see tittle-tattle
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for twaddle

n.

"silly talk," 1782, probably from twattle (1550s), of obscure origin.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper