babble 1 of 2

noun

Definition of babblenext
as in prattle
unintelligible or meaningless talk the baby's good-natured babble and random gurglings were cute, but not very helpful in determining what he wanted

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

babble

2 of 2

verb

ˈba-bəl How to pronounce babble (audio)
1
as in to chatter
to speak rapidly, inarticulately, and usually unintelligibly in such a rush to tell us the news that she just babbled

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to chat
to engage in casual or rambling conversation the little girls babbled contentedly for the whole ride home

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of babble
Noun
The film almost completely drops any and all scientific babble from the book in favor of character development, action sequences, and emotional gut punches. — Matthew Razak, Space.com, 23 Mar. 2026 Read a book and sip tea in front of the central fireplace, swim between the indoor and outdoor sections of the glimmering pool, and soak your aching quads in the hot tubs under the evergreens and aspens while listening to the peaceful babble of Gore Creek. — Sarah Kuta, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Feb. 2026
Verb
Seeing her daughter in that state, babbling nonsense and barely able to stand, Letizia had goggled with the watery eyes of a sickly old lady. — Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2026 Temescal Gateway Park is a 141-acre expanse in Pacific Palisades that features a babbling brook, oak and sycamore canyons and trails that zigzag up the mountains, providing views of the Pacific Ocean and its coastline. — Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for babble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for babble
  1. prattle
  2. chatter
  3. chat
  4. nonsense
  5. drool
  6. talk
  7. jabber
  8. gibber
Noun
  • The Korean Football Association was furious, responding to this juvenile, but ultimately harmless, prattle by boycotting the Korean press.
    — E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 24 June 2026
  • Some of the prattle can feel like treading water, a delaying tactic until the inevitable confrontation scene.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2026
Definition of prattle
Verb
  • In the novel, likewise, the narrator assumes an almost Homeric guise, comparing current harbor gossip to chatter from the Phoenician, Cretan, Greek, and Roman eras.
    — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Suspended in a pool, holding onto an oxygen mask as her teeth chattered, Julia Wolf began to seriously consider the possibility of hypothermia.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of chatter
Verb
  • Times columnists Gustavo Arellano, Steve Lopez and Lorraine Ali are chatting about Tuesday night’s Los Angeles mayoral debate between Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman.
    — Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The details of the allegations, which disclosed how fraternity members used a Snapchat group chat to discuss the woman and events at the party with openly crude language, sparked fury across the nation.
    — Elissa Nadworny, NPR, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of chat
Noun
  • In the eyes of the conferences, and CFP committee, the allure of a postseason bid is the carrot that would dangle in front of them so that fans would look the other way at the nonsense this creates for the football played in September or October.
    — Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • My fellow relishers of Trowbridge nonsense, today is our day of jubilee.
    — Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of nonsense
Verb
  • Mix these finds into your work wardrobe or your off-duty ensembles—they’re versatile enough to do it all, and the festive palette is worth drooling over.
    — Jake Henry Smith, Glamour, 7 Oct. 2026
  • There was one of Melissa Gorga’s sprinkle cookies ground into the carpet, and there was Kelsey Swanson, passed out under the piano and drooling on the parquet.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of drool
Verb
  • Conservatives have talked for years about the need to downsize the federal leviathan.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Kevin Warsh wants the Fed to talk less and to force investors to look at the numbers and make their own decisions.
    — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of talk
Noun
  • Some children clustered there to jabber and run madly about, while others just wanted attention and knew how to get it.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025
  • And given that these are not professional actors, or even (in most cases) people who aspire to be, LaBeouf’s words to them, full of deadly serious jabber about empathy and ego, are pumped up with an intensity that feels overdone and inappropriate.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 19 May 2025
Definition of jabber
Verb
  • But when the disheveled, withdrawn ex-friend shows up in the locker room gibbering about an evil spirit, Sam is mortified, impulsively knocking to the ground the grungy-looking Mason jar that Tamira has been carrying around.
    — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 18 Sep. 2023
  • For a while, police interest bent toward a Phud who had been warned he might be eliminated from the program, who had seemed almost exultant about the fire and gibbered gleefully about the media spotlight.
    — New York Times, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2018
Definition of gibber

Browse Nearby Words

Babbitts
babble
babbled
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Babble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/babble. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fervid

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All