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 , afiend . - noun A
flighty person; someone regarded assilly ,irresponsible , orscatterbrained , 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
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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For all the seniors out there that find Elizabeth Taylor still relevant, a flibbertigibbet is basically a chatty gossip.
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Either she's misusing the word flibbertigibbet or she's endorsing the wrong candidate.
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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
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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
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Shakespeare apparently saw a devilish aspect to a gossipy chatterer; he used "flibbertigibbet" in
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
cgrimm commented on the word flibbertigibbet
nice word!
February 29, 2008
swimsuitissue commented on the word flibbertigibbet
If this rolled off the tongue quite as easily as "stupid bitch," I'd use it constantly.
April 7, 2009
rainedancing commented on the word flibbertigibbet
a Middle English word referring to a flighty or whimsical person, usually a young female.
September 1, 2009
essceebee commented on the word flibbertigibbet
I agree with swim suitissue...but I guess saying it fast will come with practice:)
September 7, 2009
atapizdun commented on the word flibbertigibbet
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
ruzuzu commented on the word flibbertigibbet
"A flibbertigibbet. A will-o'-the-wisp. A clown."
--Three of the nuns in The Sound of Music.
November 7, 2011