WCOREW Word

Piffle


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Came first in group 309 in round 1 with 488 votes

beat Nonplus on 148 votes
beat Hamper on 85 votes
beat Fence on 59 votes


Came first in group 78 in round 2 with 405 votes

beat Dudgeon on 155 votes
beat Cochineal on 117 votes
beat Valedictory on 88 votes


Won in group 39 in round 3 with 640 votes

beat Paucity on 286 votes


Won in group 20 in round 4 with 679 votes

beat Peregrination on 361 votes


Lost in group 10 in round 5 with 318 votes

beaten by Bollocks on 743 votes



English[edit]

WOTD – 4 December 2009

Etymology[edit]

Unknown, 1847. Perhaps blend of piddle +‎ trifle, perhaps puff (“(onomatopoeia, puff of air)”) +‎ -le (“diminutive”).[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈpɪf.əl/
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪfəl

Noun[edit]

piffle (uncountable)

  1. Nonsense, foolish talk.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonsense
    • 2008 November 27, “Walking: More than gadding about”, in The Economist‎[1]:
      The wafflier the piffle, the more sharply Mr Nicholson wields his skewer.
    • 2022 May 31, James Vincent, “Boris Johnson’s move to bring back imperial units is pure piffle – and simply unfathomable”, in The Guardian‎[2]:
      The move is obviously pure piffle: a dumbshow designed to placate (or at least entertain) the conservative base while distracting and antagonising rivals.

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

piffle (third-person singular simple present piffles, present participle piffling, simple past and past participle piffled)

  1. To act or speak in a futile, ineffective, or nonsensical manner.
  2. To waste, to fritter away.
  3. (dated) To be squeamish or delicate.

Synonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “piffle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.