Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To talk or act feebly or futilely.
- noun Foolish or futile talk or ideas; nonsense.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To do something (or nothing) in a lazy, ineffective way; idle; dawdle; talk idly or nonsensically.
- To be squeamish.
- noun Something trifling or nonsensical; trifling talk; twaddle.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb Dial. or Slang To be sequeamish or delicate; hence, to act or talk triflingly or ineffectively; to twaddle; piddle.
- noun Dial. or Slang Act of piffling; trifling talk or action; piddling; twaddle.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
Nonsense ,foolish talk . - verb To
act orspeak in afutile ,ineffective , ornonsensical manner. - verb To
waste , tofritter away.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
- verb act in a trivial or ineffective way
- noun trivial nonsense
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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He uses the word piffle but he doesn't sheet it home to a person, he refers to the statement itself, which is piffle, after all.
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In his speech Cameron will resurrect his claim - once described by the London mayor, Boris Johnson, as "piffle" - that society is "broken".
The Guardian World News Andrew Sparrow 2011
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While we read these feeble arguments, which the newspapers would call piffle, how can we escape the conviction that evolution is in desperate need of argument?
The Evolution of Man Scientifically Disproved In 50 Arguments
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In his speech Cameron will resurrect his claim – once described by the London mayor, Boris Johnson, as "piffle" – that society is "broken".
David Cameron's 'big society' could be funded by savers 2011
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Don't want to pay actual hard earned money for that kind of piffle!
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AOL's spokesman An analyst sympathetic to AOL even used the word "piffle" to dismiss the grave concerns of the organizations, which come from all points on the political spectrum and represent millions and millions of supporters:
Boing Boing: February 26, 2006 - March 4, 2006 Archives 2006
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Evidence, consitutional safeguards, attorneys, that kind of piffle that Padilla trashed.
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Evidence, consitutional safeguards, attorneys, that kind of piffle that Padilla trashed.
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But this indulgence in "piffle" has led us away from the main entrance, and we must come back to the floor of the _salon_ in which our reception was being conducted.
A Fantasy of Mediterranean Travel S. G. Bayne
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The dear lady who delights in "piffle," and to whom "pifflage" is the very breath of life, had also her niche in our affairs.
A Fantasy of Mediterranean Travel S. G. Bayne
johnmperry commented on the word piffle
cf tosh
July 21, 2008
madmouth commented on the word piffle
If not frequently brandished by Wooster, it sure as hell ought to be
April 13, 2009
nell_nelson commented on the word piffle
See Daisy Ashford's 'The Young Visiters' (sic) - and her wonderful phrase "piffle in the wind"
November 8, 2009
klmn613 commented on the word piffle
"Perfect piffe".
P.G.Wodehouse, "My Man Jeeves"
November 23, 2010