EN

Synonyms for palaver

67 synonyms
1 antonym
7 meanings

verb
noun

Most common

chatter babble blather blabber blarney wheedle puff

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Chatter — to discuss with much talk

chatter, prattle, babble, blabber, clack, blather, piffle, blab, balderdash, natter, drivel, tattle, talk, jabber, jargon, ramble, gossip, chat, go on, gabble, prate, waffle

2. Blarney

blarney, sweet-talk informal, wheedle, cajole, coax, inveigle

3. Jolly — to flatter

puff, flatter, collogue, jolly dated, make fair weather dated

Other

Noun

1. Rigmarole — mentally draining activity, either physical or fuss

rigmarole, rigamarole US, to-do, bother, trouble, quarrel, ado, clatter, riddle me ree, nuisance, song and dance, fuss, brouhaha, fracas, rumpus, commotion

2. Debate — disagreement

debate, conflict

3. Double talk — talk intended to deceive

double talk, doublespeak

4. Rhetoric

rhetoric, empty words informal

Other

twaddle, hot air, non-sense, gibberish, small talk, clap-trap, cajolery, bibble-babble, flummery, bavardage, blandishment, mumbo-jumbo

Antonyms

All antonyms of palaver →

Definitions

v. 1
To discuss with much talk.
v. 2
To flatter.
n. 1
Mentally draining activity, either physical or fuss.
What's the good of going through all this palaver of giving very small sums to very obscure charities?
n. 2
Disagreement.
I have no palaver with him.

Related words

Word family: palaverer palaverist palaverous
Phrases: palaver hut

Forms

Plural: palavers → rigmaroles, to-dos, bothers, troubles…
Past participle: palavered
e.g. palavered → chattered, prattled, babbled, blabbered…

Example sentences

chatter She finds comfort in silence rather than chatter.
babble She didn't pay attention to her husband's babble.
blather I hope they're not going to blather on for too long.
wheedle I tried to wheedle him into telling me the answer.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
palaver		steady
chatter		rising
babble		rising
blather		rising
blabber		rising
blarney		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: ado²
4 letters: talk¹, chat¹, fuss¹, puff¹, coax¹, blab¹
5 letters: jolly², clack¹, prate
6 letters: debate², bother², gossip², waffle², jargon², ramble², babble², drivel², fracas², tattle², jabber, rumpus, cajole², natter²
7 letters: trouble², chatter², flatter², quarrel², clatter², blarney, prattle², blather², twaddle², blabber², wheedle
8 letters: conflict², rhetoric³, nuisance², brouhaha³, inveigle, flummery, collogue, cajolery
9 letters: commotion³, gibberish³, rigmarole, bavardage
10 letters: conference³, balderdash³, rigamarole
11 letters: doublespeak³
12 letters: blandishment³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (ado² = 2 syllables).