flibbertigibbet love

flibbertigibbet

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A silly, scatterbrained, or garrulous person.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See Flibberdigibbet.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An imp.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An offbeat, skittish person; especially said of a young woman.
  • noun archaic An imp, a fiend.
  • noun A flighty person; someone regarded as silly, irresponsible, or scatterbrained, especially someone who chatters or gossips

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a female fool

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English flipergebet.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From late Middle English first attested 1549 probably imitative of nonsense uttered by gossips. Usage as an imp or fiend and name of the Devil from around 1603.

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Examples

  • For all the seniors out there that find Elizabeth Taylor still relevant, a flibbertigibbet is basically a chatty gossip.

    Elizabeth Taylor urges primary voters to back Clinton 2008

  • Either she's misusing the word flibbertigibbet or she's endorsing the wrong candidate.

    Elizabeth Taylor urges primary voters to back Clinton 2008

  • Joe Versus The Volcano, only one of whom is a self-described "flibbertigibbet" (a sort of antiquated version of the MPDG).

    How Now Brownpau 2010

  • Joe Versus The Volcano, only one of whom is a self-described "flibbertigibbet" (a sort of antiquated version of the MPDG).

    How Now Brownpau 2010

  • Shakespeare apparently saw a devilish aspect to a gossipy chatterer; he used "flibbertigibbet" in

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day 2009

  • He suggested that the PM's often tired appearance might be an advantage compared to Conservative leader David Cameron, who he dismissed as a "flibbertigibbet".

    unknown title 2009

  • In phonaesthesia however, some simple combinations of phonemes (like “fl -” in English) have taken on a degree of meaning in their own right, if not iconic (with “fl -” resembling a sound associated with the flick, flap or flourish, the fluttering flight of the fleeting, flouncy flibbertigibbet,) then at least conventionally symbolic (as with the cluster of words in English associating “gl -” with glistening, glittering glints of gleams we glance or glean.)

    Notes on Notes Hal Duncan 2009

  • Danson, as the constantly stoned and seemingly monstrously self-absorbed magazine editor George, gives the show weight and heft, which is hard to see in the first several episodes because George appears to be a flibbertigibbet.

    Ted Danson takes down Boredom on points 2009

  • In phonaesthesia however, some simple combinations of phonemes (like “fl -” in English) have taken on a degree of meaning in their own right, if not iconic (with “fl -” resembling a sound associated with the flick, flap or flourish, the fluttering flight of the fleeting, flouncy flibbertigibbet,) then at least conventionally symbolic (as with the cluster of words in English associating “gl -” with glistening, glittering glints of gleams we glance or glean.)

    Archive 2009-07-01 Hal Duncan 2009

  • Danson, as the constantly stoned and seemingly monstrously self-absorbed magazine editor George, gives the show weight and heft, which is hard to see in the first several episodes because George appears to be a flibbertigibbet.

    Lance Mannion: 2009

Comments

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  • nice word!

    February 29, 2008

  • If this rolled off the tongue quite as easily as "stupid bitch," I'd use it constantly.

    April 7, 2009

  • a Middle English word referring to a flighty or whimsical person, usually a young female.

    September 1, 2009

  • I agree with swim suitissue...but I guess saying it fast will come with practice:)

    September 7, 2009

  • As mentioned in the Wordnik blog:

    A flibbertigibbet is “a flighty person; someone regarded as silly, irresponsible, or scatterbrained, especially someone who chatters or gossips.” Pretty harmless, right? But back in the 1600s, a flibbertigibbet referred to “the name of a devil,” and is described in King Lear as a “foul fiend.”

    October 26, 2011

  • "A flibbertigibbet. A will-o'-the-wisp. A clown."

    --Three of the nuns in The Sound of Music.

    November 7, 2011