different between inanity vs drivel

English

Etymology

From French inanité, from Latin inanitas

Pronunciation

• enPR: ?-n?n?-?t-?, IPA^(key): /??næn?ti/
• Hyphenation: i?nan?i?ty

Noun

inanity (countable and uncountable, plural inanities)

1. (uncountable) The property of being inane, of lacking material of interest or satisfaction, emptiness.
2. Something that is inane.

   Working in any bureaucracy means being bedeviled by inanities daily.

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??v.?l/
• Hyphenation: driv?el
• Rhymes: -?v?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English drivelen, drevelen, from Old English dreflian (“to drivel, slobber, slaver”), from Proto-Germanic *drablijan?,from Proto-Indo-European *d?ereb?- (“cloudy, turbid; yeast”).

Noun

drivel (countable and uncountable, plural drivels)

1. senseless talk; nonsense
2. saliva, drool
3. (obsolete) A fool; an idiot.

Translations

Verb

drivel (third-person singular simple present drivels, present participle (US) driveling or drivelling, simple past and past participle (US) driveled or drivelled)

1. To have saliva drip from the mouth; to drool.
2. To talk nonsense; to talk senselessly; to drool.
3. To be weak or foolish; to dote.
   • driveling dotard

Synonyms

• (have saliva drip from the mouth): drool
• (talk nonsense): See also Thesaurus:nonsense.

Translations

Etymology 2

Compare Old Dutch drevel (“scullion”).

Noun

drivel (plural drivels)

1. (obsolete) A servant; a drudge.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Huloet to this entry?)

References

• drivel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Vidler, drevil