fiddle-faddle

fid·dle-fad·dle

(fĭd′l-făd′l)

Nonsense.

intr.v. fid·dle-fad·dled, fid·dle-fad·dling, fid·dle-fad·dles

To fritter away one's time; dally.

[ Reduplication of fiddle.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fiddle-faddle

(ˈfɪdəlˌfædəl)

n, interj

trivial matter; nonsense

(intr) to fuss or waste time, esp over trivial matters

[C16: reduplication of fiddle]

ˈfiddle-ˌfaddler n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fid•dle-fad•dle

(ˈfɪd lˌfæd l)

n., v. -dled, -dling. n.

1. nonsense

2. something trivial.

v.i.

3. to fuss with trifles.

(often used as an interjection).

[1570–80; gradational compound based on fiddle]

fiddle-faddle

Past participle: fiddle-faddled
Gerund: fiddle-faddling

Imperative
fiddle-faddle
fiddle-faddle

Present
I fiddle-faddle
you fiddle-faddle
he/she/it fiddle-faddles
we fiddle-faddle
you fiddle-faddle
they fiddle-faddle

Preterite
I fiddle-faddled
you fiddle-faddled
he/she/it fiddle-faddled
we fiddle-faddled
you fiddle-faddled
they fiddle-faddled

Present Continuous
I am fiddle-faddling
you are fiddle-faddling
he/she/it is fiddle-faddling
we are fiddle-faddling
you are fiddle-faddling
they are fiddle-faddling

Present Perfect
I have fiddle-faddled
you have fiddle-faddled
he/she/it has fiddle-faddled
we have fiddle-faddled
you have fiddle-faddled
they have fiddle-faddled

Past Continuous
I was fiddle-faddling
you were fiddle-faddling
he/she/it was fiddle-faddling
we were fiddle-faddling
you were fiddle-faddling
they were fiddle-faddling

Past Perfect
I had fiddle-faddled
you had fiddle-faddled
he/she/it had fiddle-faddled
we had fiddle-faddled
you had fiddle-faddled
they had fiddle-faddled

Future
I will fiddle-faddle
you will fiddle-faddle
he/she/it will fiddle-faddle
we will fiddle-faddle
you will fiddle-faddle
they will fiddle-faddle

Future Perfect
I will have fiddle-faddled
you will have fiddle-faddled
he/she/it will have fiddle-faddled
we will have fiddle-faddled
you will have fiddle-faddled
they will have fiddle-faddled

Future Continuous
I will be fiddle-faddling
you will be fiddle-faddling
he/she/it will be fiddle-faddling
we will be fiddle-faddling
you will be fiddle-faddling
they will be fiddle-faddling

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been fiddle-faddling
you have been fiddle-faddling
he/she/it has been fiddle-faddling
we have been fiddle-faddling
you have been fiddle-faddling
they have been fiddle-faddling

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been fiddle-faddling
you will have been fiddle-faddling
he/she/it will have been fiddle-faddling
we will have been fiddle-faddling
you will have been fiddle-faddling
they will have been fiddle-faddling

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been fiddle-faddling
you had been fiddle-faddling
he/she/it had been fiddle-faddling
we had been fiddle-faddling
you had been fiddle-faddling
they had been fiddle-faddling

Conditional
I would fiddle-faddle
you would fiddle-faddle
he/she/it would fiddle-faddle
we would fiddle-faddle
you would fiddle-faddle
they would fiddle-faddle

Past Conditional
I would have fiddle-faddled
you would have fiddle-faddled
he/she/it would have fiddle-faddled
we would have fiddle-faddled
you would have fiddle-faddled
they would have fiddle-faddled

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

fiddle-faddle - trivial nonsense

balderdash, piffle

hokum, meaninglessness, nonsense, nonsensicality, bunk - a message that seems to convey no meaning

fiddle-faddle

noun

Something or things that are unimportant:

frippery, frivolity, froth, minutia, nonsense, small change, small potatoes, trifle, trivia, triviality.

Translations

fiddle-faddle

interj (dated, = nonsense) → Quatsch (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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Homes building plan fiddle-faddle, says MP

The accountant may be knocking at my door wanting my VAT returns, and it's a big deal for him, but when you get in the mountains all that fiddle-faddle gets stripped bare and the things which truly matter become important."

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Pretty please, don't raise the roof, clean my clock, throw a temper tantrum, and take me to task for being a ranting and raving crazy coot with bats in my belfry; a tattle-taling four-flusher who's out to add insult to run you ragged from stem to stern and pillar to post; or a hard-hearted, bamboozling, four-flushing flimflam man who feels free to get your goat and, to add fuel to the fire and insult to injury, make a monkey out of you with farfetched fiddle-faddle that contains neither rhyme nor reason, a bunch of baloney that you need like a bole in the head.

A light-hearted look at Greek figures of rhetoric

"Sleigh Ride" is so famous, you'd think it had been around since the days of Dickens; as are things like "The Typewriter," "The Syncopated Clock," "Fiddle-Faddle," "Serenata," "Plink Plank Plunk," and "China Doll." Meanwhile, other pieces like "Horse and Buggy" and "The Waltzing Cat" are guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.