as in nonsense
language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense
the novel's elaborate theory detailing a supposed 2,000-year-old conspiracy is mostly tiresome twaddle
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Recent Examples of twaddle
The public is simply not buying it and is looking for an alternative.
Enough of the twaddle about how voting Democratic is voting to save democracy.
—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2024
Perhaps News Nation is trying to assume the mantle of Fox News as a dispenser of right-wing twaddle, or (to be more charitable) of CNN as a sober neutral voice.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2023
On the other end are people like Yann LeCun, who reject such scenarios as sci-fi twaddle.
—Eliza Strickland, IEEE Spectrum, 21 June 2023
Brett calls Hal to trade pretentious literary references, chit-chat about the business of books and other time-sucking twaddle.
—oregonlive, 16 May 2023
No, not the usual twaddle about manipulative crowd-pleasers like cats, dogs, ferrets or budgies, which are programmed to be cute, but stories like the recent one in the Journal about goats that are helping to fight fires in rural Australia by gobbling up potential tinder.
—Joe Queenan, WSJ, 20 Jan. 2022
Much of the research and the dissemination of this twaddle is funded by the Gates Foundation, which last year spent $642 million for its U.S. program, including Pathways and other initiatives that focus on eliminating white supremacy from math.
—Kenin M. Spivak, National Review, 16 Sep. 2021
Before long, Limbaugh had attracted an audience of 20 million a day by spewing wildly racist, xenophobic and sexist bile and wildly untrue twaddle about everything from climate to tobacco to the number of murders committed by Bill and Hillary Clinton.
—Al Franken, Star Tribune, 11 Nov. 2020
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2024
Perhaps News Nation is trying to assume the mantle of Fox News as a dispenser of right-wing twaddle, or (to be more charitable) of CNN as a sober neutral voice.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2023
On the other end are people like Yann LeCun, who reject such scenarios as sci-fi twaddle.
—Eliza Strickland, IEEE Spectrum, 21 June 2023
Brett calls Hal to trade pretentious literary references, chit-chat about the business of books and other time-sucking twaddle.
—oregonlive, 16 May 2023
No, not the usual twaddle about manipulative crowd-pleasers like cats, dogs, ferrets or budgies, which are programmed to be cute, but stories like the recent one in the Journal about goats that are helping to fight fires in rural Australia by gobbling up potential tinder.
—Joe Queenan, WSJ, 20 Jan. 2022
Much of the research and the dissemination of this twaddle is funded by the Gates Foundation, which last year spent $642 million for its U.S. program, including Pathways and other initiatives that focus on eliminating white supremacy from math.
—Kenin M. Spivak, National Review, 16 Sep. 2021
Before long, Limbaugh had attracted an audience of 20 million a day by spewing wildly racist, xenophobic and sexist bile and wildly untrue twaddle about everything from climate to tobacco to the number of murders committed by Bill and Hillary Clinton.
—Al Franken, Star Tribune, 11 Nov. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for twaddle
Noun
-
But the jumble of words coming out of Harper’s mouth is nonsense.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2026
-
Aside from how much human assistance the AIs had, the vast bulk of the submissions appear to be a lot of very convincing nonsense.—
Joseph Howlett,
Scientific American,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Schools currently consider animals as equipment to be repeatedly thrown in the garbage, while alternative methods are a one-time investment.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
22 Feb. 2026
-
Barely present workers dragged garbage bins, arranged displays of crappy snacks, and wiped counters with slow, heavy movements.—
Mary Gaitskill,
New Yorker,
22 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
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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After iftar, the evening meal that breaks their daytime fast, families gather to watch their picks from the year’s crop of soap operas and political and historical dramas, snacking on sweets and nuts and drinking tea and coffee until late into the night.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Tiger nuts may aid digestion, support weight loss, regulate blood sugar, boost heart and immune health, and reduce inflammation.—
Lana Barhum,
Verywell Health,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Slater is a virtuosic physical actor, and his evocation of the mime’s precision, silliness, and grace—the elastic faces, the acrobatic tumbles, the fingers that bloom into flowers, then wilt, then bloom again — is painstaking and loving in its observance.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
23 Feb. 2026
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There is plenty of silliness in this year’s commercials.—
Dee-Ann Durbin,
Fortune,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
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What l find tiresome is l feel l am continually getting advice from people about different treatments, meds, PT, how to walk, blah blah.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Feb. 2026
-
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
Noun
-
As to the famous fine line between stupid and clever, the stupidity and the cleverness are all but inextricable, and to the point.—
Television Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Feb. 2026
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Marco Bellocchio‘s six-episode Italian-language drama is a living nightmare of the past that doubles as an agonizing manifestation of the present — a potent reminder that widespread stupidity isn’t confined to a single time or place.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The large dormitory room smelled of babies' breath and pillow drool.—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
15 Feb. 2026
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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
Cite this Entry
“Twaddle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/twaddle. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
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