Definitions

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

  • noun Nonsense.
  • intransitive verb To fritter away one's time; dally.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Trifling talk; trifles. Also fiddle-cum-faddle and fidfad.
  • Trifling; making a bustle about nothing.
  • To trifle; busy one's self with nothing; talk trifling nonsense; dawdle; dally.

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

  • noun colloq. A trifle; trifling talk; nonsense.
  • intransitive verb colloq. To talk nonsense.

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

  • noun nonsense

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

  • noun trivial nonsense

Etymologies

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

[ Reduplication of fiddle.]

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Examples

  • Or are we just going to fiddle-faddle re-arranging the objects of our concern on that great addictive ship -- America?

    Stanton Peele: What Is Addiction? 2009

  • As you can see, I don't fuss with a doughnut cutter and holes and all that fiddle-faddle.

    Archive 2009-03-01 Gumbo Lily 2009

  • As you can see, I don't fuss with a doughnut cutter and holes and all that fiddle-faddle.

    Doughnut Day! Gumbo Lily 2009

  • All this wasted 2-step fiddle-faddle can come to a screeching halt.

    Time for America to go Metric? Youbecha! 2008

  • I was very pleased with my first attempt, bit of a fiddle-faddle, but tasted great.

    Polish Christmas food | the POLSKI blog 2008

  • Well might the merit of your passion be doubted, you say, if, like Mr. Solmes — fiddle-faddle! —

    Clarissa Harlowe 2006

  • It's just more ridiculous fiddle-faddle perpetuating the conservative Big Lies they've been pimping since forever.

    rolling blackout 2006

  • She drove over constantly from Roehampton and entertained her friend with faint fashionable fiddle-faddle and feeble Court slip-slop.

    Vanity Fair 2006

  • Teutonic, Maltese, etc., are surely better subjects of conversation, than the weather, dress, or fiddle-faddle stories, that carry no information along with them.

    Letters to his son on The Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman 2005

  • And then, we watched Fox Game day and ate a whole box of fiddle-faddle together.

    comes and goes impetuousme 2004

Comments

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  • Fiddle-faddle, foolish man!-- what a pother is here!-- I guess how it is: you are ashamed to let us see what sort of people you carried your lady among!

    The false Lady Betty Lawrance, as quoted by Lovelace to Belford, Clarissa by Samuel Richardson

    January 4, 2008