English

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Etymology

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From prate +‎ -le (early modern English frequentative suffix). Compare Dutch pruttelen and Dutch preutelen (to mutter).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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prattle (third-person singular simple present prattles, present participle prattling, simple past and past participle prattled)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To speak incessantly and in an inconsequential or childish manner; to babble.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:prattle
    • 1906, O. Henry, A Cosmopolite in a Café:
      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.
    • 1952, Daphne Du Maurier, “Monte Verità”, in The Apple Tree:
      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.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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prattle (uncountable)

  1. Silly, childish talk; babble.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonsense, Thesaurus:chatter

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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Anagrams

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