prattle

verb

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prat·tle | \ ˈpra-tᵊl

prattled; prattling\ ˈprat-liŋ

, ˈpra-tᵊl-iŋ \

Definition of prattle

(Entry 1 of 2)

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

prattle

noun

Definition of prattle (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : trifling or empty talk

2 : a sound that is meaningless, repetitive, and suggestive of the chatter of children

Other Words from prattle Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about prattle

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Other Words from prattle

Verb

prattler \ ˈprat-lər

, ˈpra-tᵊl-ər \ noun

prattlingly \ ˈprat-liŋ-lē

, -tᵊl-iŋ- \ adverb

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 As always, those who prattle on about individual freedoms slip quite easily into authoritarianism when defied. — Kevin Baker, Harper's Magazine, "Things to Come," 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, "Half-Life: Alyx review: The greatest VR adventure game yet—and then some," 23 Mar. 2020 David prattled about the weather and asked if Harry had seen anything good on TV. — cincinnati.com, "Accused podcast, Season 3, Chapter 6: Last day laid bare," 14 Jan. 2020 My aunt would prattle on about her kindergarten students, my uncles about their work as firefighters and linesmen. — BostonGlobe.com, "Why I still roast a turkey on Thanksgiving - The Boston Globe," 21 Nov. 2019 Someone is eating with his or her child or family, just having a quiet dinner, and shouting at them, screaming, demanding and prattling on about all these points. — Fox News, "Ingraham: When the inmates run the immigration asylum," 26 July 2018 Middle Sister prattled on about how an atom having six principal quantum numbers can yield several emission lines, or some such. — Chicago Tribune, chicagotribune.com, "Algren Award runner-up: "Most Best Happy Korean Bright Star" by Michelle Massie," 2 June 2018 The chapter is mostly made up of faintly (and not-so-faintly) ignorant rednecks who prattle on about their own superiority and sense of grievance that their pure white ways of life are being distorted and corrupted by the Jews and the blacks. — Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, "Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman draws a ham-fisted line from white supremacy’s past to its present," 15 May 2018 In a city that prattles endlessly about celebrating diversity, the Seaport stands as just the opposite. — Adrian Walker, BostonGlobe.com, "The latest evidence the Seaport isn’t getting diversity right: La Casa de Pedro’s problems," 13 May 2018 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun No one has ever listened to me prattle on for this long before. — The Washington Post, AL.com, "Doritos developing quieter chips specifically for women," 5 Feb. 2018 Away from the incessant prattle of social media and the knee-jerk demands for harsh immediate action, a variety of perspectives was considered. — Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY, "World Series: Yuli Gurriel incident elicits attempts to bridge cultural divide," 28 Oct. 2017 They are allowed to prattle on about vague problems in America. — Dom Giordano, Philly.com, "Sports media wrong to glorify athletes who snub national anthem," 13 Sep. 2017 The Supreme Court’s seating chart requires the two to sit next to each other, and like plenty of SCOTUS seatmates before them, the justices often whisper to each other when lawyers at the lectern prattle on. — Mark Joseph Stern, Slate Magazine, "The Next Ginsburg and Scalia?," 30 May 2017 Her boys laughed at her pretensions, prattle, and lack of culture. — Longreads, "A Portrait of the Artist as an Undocumented Immigrant," 21 June 2017 Perhaps part of what Slobodchikoff deems prairie-dog language is just useless prattle. — Ferris Jabr, New York Times, "Can Prairie Dogs Talk?," 12 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'prattle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.