as in nonsense
language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense
a grandmother who routinely pooh-poohed the advice of the so-called experts in child care as so much fiddle-faddle
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fiddle-faddle
For more: read Kang’s full dispatch on the series’ fiddle-faddle.
—
Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 11 July 2025
Maybe this premise sounds like pseudo-philosophical fiddle-faddle.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 22 May 2025
Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 11 July 2025
Maybe this premise sounds like pseudo-philosophical fiddle-faddle.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 22 May 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fiddle-faddle
Noun
-
No gimmicks, no nonsense, straight shooter, the woman who gets things done.—
Seema Mehta,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Feb. 2026
-
This was the nonsense that was going on here last week, just like every week.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
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And the magic elixir is able to turn garbage into Jan Ravnik, Swift's pinup backup dancer.—
Bryan West,
USA Today,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Every winter, construction machines work around the clock to clear tons of garbage — plastic, furniture, medical waste — clogging the Drina River.—
Eldar Emric,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Morton kosher salt; process until nuts are very finely chopped, about 30 seconds.—
Jesse Szewczyk,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Granola One of the original ‘health foods,’ granola contains many nutritious ingredients, such as oats, nuts, and seeds.—
Sarah Anzlovar,
Verywell Health,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Piles of human scraps offer a bottomless buffet to wildlife, and to access that bounty, animals need to be bold enough to rummage through human rubbish but not so bold as to become a threat to people.—
Marina Wang,
Scientific American,
14 Nov. 2025
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Helga once wrestled down a drunk fisherman in the Café, a man of above-average size, and then threw him out like a piece of rubbish; Jens thus transfers most of his weight automatically to her; who is this kid, by the way?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Interested in an ode to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and silliness?—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Feb. 2026
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December 22 – January 19 The stars are calling for some silliness!—
Tarot.com,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Huw just spazzes out most of the time, and Patrick is incredibly transparent and succeeds more because of luck and the stupidity of others rather than his own intellect.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
My love of the theater and my love of the people who dedicate their life to creativity and the kind of highs and lows of that life, and the silliness and stupidity of that life, and the moments of elegiac grace.—
Mark Olsen,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Switch Out Your Throw Pillows Bringing some new throw pillows into the mix can take your living room from blah to beautiful, designers say.—
Sarah Lyon,
The Spruce,
31 Jan. 2026
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In other words, our complexion is looking pallid, our skin is dry, and our overall appearance is just a little blah at the moment.—
Alyssa Grabinski,
PEOPLE,
2 Jan. 2026
Noun
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In one image—a favorite of mine—a man lies on an expanse of sand, cradling a smiling child, whose drool is pooling on the man’s shirtless chest.—
Chris Wiley,
New Yorker,
20 Dec. 2025
-
Lotte looks down at drips of drool on the green rubber mat that covers her desk.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fiddle-faddle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fiddle-faddle. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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