Standard Lemma guide

prattery

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Foolishness or foolish behaviour.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • 2004. March 13, “Ian G Batten” (username), “Re: haddock”, in uk.misc, Usenet, If an obviously egomanic twit makes wonderful music, should his prattery disqualify him?
  • 2004. July 20, Alastair Down, The Racing Post (London, England), article The Open and Shut Case of the Missing Hub-Caps. ...Paying sportsmen obscene sums of money does not necessarily mean they behave badly. Unlike football, there seems to be no correlation between fat cattery and prattery.
  • 2008. Jan 26, Simon Barnes, Tehran Times, article Keep Class Out of it. In sport you are either good enough, or you’re not, Marcus Willis... had been driving the coaches at the Lawn Tennis Association to distraction, and with this latest bit of prattery finally pushed his luck too far.
  • 1871. March 18, Edwin Norris, in The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot, Glasgow Universityhttp://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/project/project.html ...We have hunutu muttabbiltu, which must be instruments musical, see hunutu in my p. 291. I derive it from <unknown language> the viol, or prattery, your nabala.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English prat Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -ārius Old French -ier Latin -ia Old French -ie Old French -eriebor. Middle English -erie English -ery English prattery From prat + -ery.

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: pitrerie — foolishness or foolish behavior