as in scatterbrain
a silly flighty person
forced to endure a long flight with a flibbertigibbet as a seat companion
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Recent Examples of flibbertigibbet
Winnie, on the other hand, is a flibbertigibbet of stream-of-consciousness.
—
Han Ong, New Yorker, 22 June 2025
Duvall is a big reason why: All the film’s insights into the slipperiness of identity are there in her casually virtuosic, veritable dual performance, in which a funny flibbertigibbet loses hold of herself as the world around seems to splinter into something frighteningly new.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 19 July 2024
Projects about Monroe have handled her personal life to varying degrees of success, often leaning into her flibbertigibbet persona, her struggles with addiction, and the paradox of her oozing sexuality and her little girl brokenness.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 24 Jan. 2023
Miranda Hart is touching as the flibbertigibbet Miss Bates, whom Emma thoughtlessly mocks.
—Caryn James, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Feb. 2020
The thought leader of the hippie girls is played by that avatar of feminine passive-aggressive flibbertigibbet solipsism, Lena Dunham, the polar opposite of the no-nonsense, two-fisted, self-contained, masculine ideal represented by Cliff.
—Kyle Smith, National Review, 13 Dec. 2019
Instead of acting cool and sophisticated our narrator prattled like a flibbertigibbet.
—Sam Sacks, WSJ, 6 Apr. 2018
Warning: The book has my three-year-old calling her grandmother a flibbertigibbet.
—Megan Gambino, Smithsonian, 18 Dec. 2017
And never mind that its mother is a flibbertigibbet who has no business having a baby.
—Matt Giles, Longreads, 29 Sep. 2017
Han Ong, New Yorker, 22 June 2025
Duvall is a big reason why: All the film’s insights into the slipperiness of identity are there in her casually virtuosic, veritable dual performance, in which a funny flibbertigibbet loses hold of herself as the world around seems to splinter into something frighteningly new.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 19 July 2024
Projects about Monroe have handled her personal life to varying degrees of success, often leaning into her flibbertigibbet persona, her struggles with addiction, and the paradox of her oozing sexuality and her little girl brokenness.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 24 Jan. 2023
Miranda Hart is touching as the flibbertigibbet Miss Bates, whom Emma thoughtlessly mocks.
—Caryn James, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Feb. 2020
The thought leader of the hippie girls is played by that avatar of feminine passive-aggressive flibbertigibbet solipsism, Lena Dunham, the polar opposite of the no-nonsense, two-fisted, self-contained, masculine ideal represented by Cliff.
—Kyle Smith, National Review, 13 Dec. 2019
Instead of acting cool and sophisticated our narrator prattled like a flibbertigibbet.
—Sam Sacks, WSJ, 6 Apr. 2018
Warning: The book has my three-year-old calling her grandmother a flibbertigibbet.
—Megan Gambino, Smithsonian, 18 Dec. 2017
And never mind that its mother is a flibbertigibbet who has no business having a baby.
—Matt Giles, Longreads, 29 Sep. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flibbertigibbet
Noun
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Rather than stay pigeonholed as a ditz, Simpson (who just released new music for the first time in 15 years) went on to launch her own fashion brand, which hit $1 billion in sales in 2015 and is still going strong today.—
EW Staff,
EW.com,
20 Mar. 2025
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Besides offering a cash prize of up to $250,000, the show can help change perception of a villain or a ditz and be a springboard for their next casting.—
Shivani Gonzalez,
New York Times,
23 Jan. 2025
Noun
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But no, sillies: Bradley is white, famous and pretty — no jail time for her!—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
17 Sep. 2025
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It was shot in portrait because it was shot in Instagram by and for a woman who was losing her mind in quarantine and had fully let the sillies take the wheel.—
Ego Nwodim,
TIME,
12 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Don’t let the success of KPop Demon Hunters at the box office fool you, Netflix is still Netflix.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Sabonis and Zach LaVine are fringe All-Stars most seasons, Keegan Murray is a solid wing starter who shoots and defends, DeRozan can still get midrange buckets and shot-fake fools into heaps of fouls, and Malik Monk is electric in a sixth-man role.—
John Hollinger,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The first draft was a little bit cuckoo, hence my headspace.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
10 Oct. 2025
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Brood parasites such as cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, tricking the hosts into caring for their offspring at the expense of their own.—
Matthew Martin,
semafor.com,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
These days, there are tons of high-quality varieties to choose from—recycled down, synthetic fill, goose down, duck down—and settling on the right one for you is really a matter of personal need and preference.—
Alison Syrett Cleary,
Glamour,
14 Oct. 2025
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The winter 2025 collection highlights regional fibers like Alaša camel yarn, Tibetan yak cashmere, Hanshan white goat cashmere and Songhua River goose down.—
Footwear News,
Footwear News,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flibbertigibbet.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flibbertigibbet. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
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