prattle
/ˈpɹætəl/
prattle verb: to speak incessantly and in an inconsequential or childish manner; to babble.
Verb
prattle (third-person singular simple present prattles, present participle prattling, simple past and past participle prattled)
- To speak incessantly and in an inconsequential or childish manner; to babble.
- And as E. Rushmore Coglan prattled of this little planet I thought with glee of a great almost-cosmopolite who wrote for the whole world and dedicated himself to Bombay.1906, O. Henry, A Cosmopolite in a Café
- I looked across at Anna, and I noticed that her eyes had grown strangely blank, without expression. I felt instinctively that the subject brought up by Victor was one she would not have chosen. Victor, insensitive to this, went prattling on.1952, Daphne Du Maurier, “Monte Verità”, in The Apple Tree
- Synonyms:
- babble, bat the breeze, blab, blabber, blather, carp, chat, chatter, chew the fat, chew the rag
Noun
prattle (uncountable)
- Silly, childish talk; babble.
- Mere prattle without practice is all his soldiership.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- [...] if you fatigue people by haying them always present, if you encourage or repeat their prattle and their sports; [...]1833, Elisabeth Celnart, The Gentleman and Lady's Book of Politeness and Propriety of Deportment: Dedicated to the Youth of Both Sexes, Allen and Ticknor and Carter, Hendee, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 15
- Synonyms:
- absurdity, all my eye, all my eye and Betty Martin, apple grease, applesauce, bafflegab, balderdash, balls, baloney, banana oil
prattle meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Telugu and Malayalam
prattle in Tamil
- குழந்தைத்தனமானப் பேச்சு, அர்த்தமில்லாப் பேச்சு, பிதற்றல்
prattle in Urdu
- بکواس, زبان چلانا
prattle in Telugu
- to talk incessantly; to babble
- ప్రేలు prēlu
prattle in Malayalam
- പ്രലപിക്കുക, ജല്പിക്കുക, കുട്ടികളെപ്പോലെ സംസാരിക്കുക, വിഡ്ഢിത്തം പുലമ്പുക
More languagesFewer languages
- prattle in Kannada
- ಹರಟು, ಉಲಿಹೊರಡಿಸು, ಸೊರಹು, ಪದರಾಡು
- prattle in Punjabi
- ਗੱਪ gappa
- prattle in Sanskrit
- लपति lapati
- prattle in Arabic
- بَقَّ baqqa
- prattle in Vietnamese
- bập bẹ, bi bô
Synonyms of prattle
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of prattle
| third-person singular present | prattles |
|---|---|
| present participle | prattling |
| past participle | prattled |
| past | prattled |
Origin of prattle
From prate + -le (early modern English frequentative suffix). Compare Dutch pruttelen and Dutch preutelen (“to mutter”).
Words formed from prattle
Words that rhyme with prattle
Questions about prattle
- What does prattle mean?
- Prattle means to speak incessantly and in an inconsequential or childish manner; to babble.
- What is prattle in Tamil?
- Prattle in Tamil is குழந்தைத்தனமானப் பேச்சு, அர்த்தமில்லாப் பேச்சு, பிதற்றல். See Prattle meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is prattle?
- Prattle can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce prattle?
- Prattle is pronounced /ˈpɹætəl/.
- What is the past tense of prattle?
- The past tense of prattle is prattled.
Words near prattle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: prattle (page history and authors); prattle (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prattle (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prattle (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prattle (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਗੱਪ (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-prattle.wav.
Cite this entry: “prattle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/prattle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.