folderol

Meanings

1. 1noununcountableold-fashioned

   Foolish nonsense or a lot of pointless fuss over something unimportant.

   Grammar: Not used with 'a' or in the plural: all this folderol.

   Patterns

   • all this folderol about something

   I can't be bothered with all this folderol about seating plans.

   The grandfather dismissed the speeches as mere folderol.

   Cut the folderol and tell me what actually happened.

2. 2noununcountableold-fashioned

   A showy trinket or needless decoration with little value.

   Grammar: Used for decoration in general: strip away the folderol.

   The room was crowded with lace and other folderol.

   She disliked the folderol on the wedding cake.

   Remove the folderol and the design is actually quite simple.

Common combinations

a lot of folderol

There was a lot of folderol before the meeting began.

all this folderol

What is all this folderol about a new hat?

mere folderol

He dismissed her objections as mere folderol.

cut the folderol

Let's cut the folderol and get to the point.

political folderol

Voters are tired of political folderol.

Synonyms and how they differ

nonsense

Nonsense is the standard word for foolish ideas, while folderol is old-fashioned, jokier and also covers fuss.

fuss

Fuss is plain and can be serious, but folderol always implies it is silly or needless.

rubbish

Rubbish is British and blunt; folderol is more playful and somewhat quaint.

frippery

Frippery focuses on showy, frivolous decoration, whereas folderol also covers silly talk.

Opposites

Word family

falderal noun

an alternative spelling of folderol

falderol noun

another spelling of folderol

fol-de-rol noun

the older, hyphenated spelling, from a nonsense song refrain

Commonly confused: folderol or fiddle-faddle?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “folderol”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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