Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
drivel [driv-uh l] EXAMPLES|WORD ORIGIN noun saliva flowing from the mouth, or mucus from the nose; slaver. 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. to let saliva flow from the mouth or mucus from the nose; slaver. to talk childishly or idiotically. Archaic. to issue like spittle. SEE MORESEE LESS verb (used with object), driv·eled, driv·el·ing or (especially British) driv·elled, driv·el·ling. to utter childishly or idiotically. to waste foolishly. Liberaldictionary.com
Origin of drivel before 1000; Middle English dryvelen, variant of drevelen, Old English dreflian; akin to draff Related formsdriv·el·er; especially British, driv·el·ler, noundriv·el·ing·ly; especially British, driv·el·ling·ly, adverb Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019 Related Words for drivelling babble, blather, gibberish, tripe, nonsense, hogwash, gobbledygook, jabber, bunk, hooey, poppycock, rubbish, balderdash, rot, twaddle, prating, Greek, prate, ramble, blabber Examples from the Web for drivelling Historical Examples of drivelling
“I can only say, once more, I’m as innocent as the drivelling snow,” repeated Leander.
F. Anstey
His enthusiasm for nature was but the drivelling sensibility of the drunkard.
William Somerset Maugham
This is the mood I hate so—drivelling about his precious family.
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero
Here am I drivelling on just as if I knew what I was talking about.
Juliette Drouet’s Love-Letters to Victor Hugo
Louis Guimbaud
I was in drivelling dotage, to think that she would be aught else than the rest of them.
The Knickerbocker, Vol. 22, No. 1, July 1843
Various
British Dictionary definitions for drivelling drivel verb -els, -elling or -elled or US -els, -eling or -eled to allow (saliva) to flow from the mouth; dribble (intr) to speak foolishly or childishly noun foolish or senseless talk saliva flowing from the mouth; slaver Derived Formsdriveller or US driveler, nounWord Origin for drivel Old English dreflian to slaver; see draff 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 Word Origin and History for drivelling drivel v.
Old English dreflian “to dribble or run at the nose, slobber,” from Proto-Germanic *drablojanan, from PIE *dher- “to make muddy.” Meaning “to speak nonsense” is mid-14c. Related: Driveling, drivelling.
drivel n.
early 14c., drevel “saliva, slaver,” from drivel (v.). Meaning “idiotic speech or writing” is from 1852.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
