prattle

1 of 2

verb

prat·​tle ˈpra-tᵊl How to pronounce prattle (audio)
prattled; prattling ˈprat-liŋ How to pronounce prattle (audio)
ˈpra-tᵊl-iŋ

intransitive verb

1
: prate
2
: to utter or make meaningless sounds suggestive of the chatter of children : babble

transitive verb

: to say in an unaffected or childish manner
prattler
ˈprat-lər How to pronounce prattle (audio)
ˈpra-tᵊl-ər
noun
prattlingly
ˈprat-liŋ-lē How to pronounce prattle (audio)
-tᵊl-iŋ-
adverb

prattle

2 of 2

noun

1
: trifling or empty talk
2
: a sound that is meaningless, repetitive, and suggestive of the chatter of children

Examples of prattle in a Sentence

Verb They prattled on into the night, discussing school, music, and friends. spent an hour on the phone prattling on about nothing in particular Noun parents often claim to understand the prattle of their infant offspring
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
On a recent evening, psychologists, students, and scholars wandered the rooms, sipping wine and prattling about the collection. Elizabeth Winkler, The New Yorker, 23 June 2023 DiFranco found herself in the surreal position of sitting behind a desk on the Financial News Network being asked to prattle on about profit margins. Jonathan Van Meter, SPIN, 8 Apr. 2023 His dad, Irving (Strong), is a tightly wound plumber who tends to prattle on whether or not anyone’s listening, about subjects as random as the perfect load-bearing qualities of a truss bridge. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 May 2022 Lots of people can prattle on about football on TV, but the extreme upper echelon — the polished storytellers entrusted by the networks to call those premier national games — is wafer thin. Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2022 Likewise, cars might rattle or prattle as your speed got faster. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 13 Sep. 2021 As always, those who prattle on about individual freedoms slip quite easily into authoritarianism when defied. Kevin Baker, Harper's Magazine, 23 June 2020 While some buffoon is prattling at length, its lips moving weirdly on a low-polygon face, this is usually the moment that your feet hurt or that your headset's face cushion itches. Sam MacHkovech, Ars Technica, 23 Mar. 2020 David prattled about the weather and asked if Harry had seen anything good on TV. cincinnati.com, 14 Jan. 2020
Noun
With more than half of Senate Republicans now officially backing Mr. Trump’s bid for president, those entreaties are becoming harder to ignore as prattle from Palm Beach. Annie Karni, New York Times, 25 Jan. 2024 The deadpan edge of much of the film’s 90 minutes of prattle conceals thoughts on the insularity of creative communities, the ticking clock of an artist’s life and the importance of remaining open to finding truth even in what appear to be random connections. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2022 The British playwright David Hare, who adapted a Maigret book for the stage, insists that Simenon—being Belgian-born and so an outsider—disdained the usual French prattle about gastronomy, and therefore cared little for the subject. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 12 Sep. 2022 His memoir is a litany of petty fights, a constant takedown of enemies and a cascade of self-aggrandizing prattle. Elizabeth Spiers, Washington Post, 26 Aug. 2022 The Activision-Blizzard purchase, along with the now constant prattle about the metaverse, only increases the value of smaller studios, who could turn out to be the next Activison. Will Bedingfield, Wired, 25 Feb. 2022 Some of the crew pass blunts and prattle on the balcony. New York Times, 23 Sep. 2021 The story begins with gentle comedy: the narrator, a writer, keeps being disturbed in his study by the prattle of his five-year-old daughter, Mini. Suketu Mehta, Time, 17 Sep. 2021 Over the past several years, Carlson Stroud’s videos devolved from benign prattle about energy, God, and angels to drunken rants, dark threats, and apparent mistreatment of members. Virginia Pelley, Marie Claire, 7 Sep. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prattle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Low German pratelen; akin to Middle Dutch praten to prate

First Known Use

Verb

1532, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of prattle was in 1532

Dictionary Entries Near prattle

Cite this Entry

“Prattle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prattle. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

prattle

verb
prat·​tle
ˈprat-ᵊl
prattled; prattling
-liŋ,
-ᵊl-iŋ
prattle noun
prattler
-lər
-ᵊl-ər
noun

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