fribble

[ frib-uhl ]
See synonyms for: fribblefribbledfribbling on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object),frib·bled, frib·bling.
  1. to act in a foolish or frivolous manner; trifle.

verb (used with object),frib·bled, frib·bling.
  1. to waste foolishly (often followed by away): He fribbled away one opportunity after another.

noun
  1. a foolish or frivolous person; trifler.

  2. anything trifling or frivolous.

adjective
  1. frivolous; foolish; trifling.

Origin of fribble

1
First recorded in 1620–30; perhaps alteration of frivol

Other words from fribble

  • fribbler, noun

Words Nearby fribble

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

How to use fribble in a sentence

  • Somehow, she found it difficult to imagine a friendship between Godfrey and this little fribble of a woman.

    What Timmy Did | Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes
  • Nor can such a person be a mere fribble; nor can any loose hanger-on of fashion imagine he may assume the character.

    The Fitz-Boodle Papers | William Makepeace Thackeray
  • And so he became a priest, a fribble, and a coxcomb, but a man of truth.

    The Browning Cyclopdia | Edward Berdoe
  • But I might say that she is in fulness a woman—not a fribble, or one of those pick-me-up-and-carry-me women.

    War and the Weird | Forbes Phillips
  • He ought to have been taken about the country in order to show the world the true meaning of a fribble and a beau.

    The Lady of Lynn | Walter Besant

British Dictionary definitions for fribble

fribble

/ (ˈfrɪbəl) /


verb
  1. (tr) to fritter away; waste

  2. (intr) to act frivolously; trifle

noun
  1. a wasteful or frivolous person or action

adjective
  1. frivolous; trifling

Origin of fribble

1
C17: of unknown origin

Derived forms of fribble

  • fribbler, 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