drivel

[ driv-uhl ]
See synonyms for: driveldriveling on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. saliva flowing from the mouth, or mucus from the nose; slaver.

  2. childish, silly, or meaningless talk or thinking; nonsense; twaddle.

verb (used without object),driv·eled, driv·el·ing or (especially British) driv·elled, driv·el·ling.
  1. to let saliva flow from the mouth or mucus from the nose; slaver.

  2. to talk childishly or idiotically.

  1. Archaic. to issue like spittle.

verb (used with object),driv·eled, driv·el·ing or (especially British) driv·elled, driv·el·ling.
  1. to utter childishly or idiotically.

  2. to waste foolishly.

Origin of drivel

1
before 1000; Middle English dryvelen, variant of drevelen,Old English dreflian; akin to draff

Other words from drivel

  • driv·el·er; especially British, driv·el·ler, noun
  • driv·el·ing·ly; especially British, driv·el·ling·ly, adverb

Words Nearby drivel

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use drivel in a sentence

  • Is Christopher Nolan's Inception a masterpiece, drivel, too confusing?

    The War Over Inception | Allen Barra | July 20, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • But Canon drivel's daughter did not deign to answer, she merely rang for prayers.

  • Had Teufelsdrockh also a father and mother; did he, at one time, wear drivel-bibs, and live on spoon-meat?

    Sartor Resartus | Thomas Carlyle
  • If you have a heart, sooner or later you get into a state of drivel about somebody, who probably doesn't drivel about you.

    Dodo's Daughter | E. F. Benson
  • It can't be worse than going about with you and listening while you crow and drivel about her, that's one comfort!

  • "Stow that drivel, cookie," growled a voice which I recognized as belonging to the older Fleming.

    The Pirate of Panama | William MacLeod Raine

British Dictionary definitions for drivel

drivel

/ (ˈdrɪvəl) /


verb-els, -elling or -elled or US -els, -eling or -eled
  1. to allow (saliva) to flow from the mouth; dribble

  2. (intr) to speak foolishly or childishly

noun
  1. foolish or senseless talk

  2. saliva flowing from the mouth; slaver

Origin of drivel

1
Old English dreflian to slaver; see draff

Derived forms of drivel

  • driveller or US driveler, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012