Meaning & use
jibbering
Last updated
“jibbering” is a form of “jibber”.
Meanings
adjectivebefore a nouninformaldisapproving
Speaking quickly and foolishly or in a way that makes no sense, often from fear or excitement.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: a jibbering wreck, not a wreck jibbering.
Patterns
- a jibbering wreck
- a jibbering idiot
After the scare, he was a jibbering wreck.
The jibbering crowd around the stage would not quiet down.
She turned into a jibbering fan when she met the singer.
verbintransitiveinformal
Talking rapidly in an unclear or silly way, as -ing form of jibber.
Grammar: No object: he was jibbering away to himself.
Patterns
- jibbering on
- jibbering away
The child was jibbering away happily in the back seat.
Stop jibbering and tell me what happened.
Word forms
| base form | jibber |
|---|---|
| third person singular | jibbers |
| past tense | jibbered |
| past participle | jibbered |
Common combinations
- jibbering wreck
- The thunderstorm left the puppy a jibbering wreck.
- jibbering idiot
- I felt like a jibbering idiot during the interview.
- jibbering with fear
- He stood jibbering with fear at the door.
- jibbering nonsense
- The drunk man kept jibbering nonsense.
- jibbering away
- The toddler was jibbering away in baby talk.
Synonyms and how they differ
- babbling
- Babbling is gentler and can describe happy baby sounds, while jibbering suggests fear or silliness.
- gibbering
- Gibbering is the more common spelling and means the same thing.
- rambling
- Rambling means talking at length without direction but still in sense, unlike jibbering.
- blathering
- Blathering stresses empty talk and is mildly rude.
Opposites
Word family
- jibber verb
- to speak rapidly and foolishly
- gibber verb
- the more common variant of jibber
- jibber-jabber noun
- fast, silly talk
- gibberish noun
- nonsense speech
Commonly confused: jibbering or gibbering?
jibbering vs gibbering
Gibbering is the standard spelling. Jibbering is a less common variant, so both are correct but gibbering is safer.
Practice
After seeing the ghost, the actor was a ____ wreck who could barely speak a clear sentence.
Choose one answer.
A jibbering wreck is someone so frightened they speak nonsense. The other adjectives do not fit this expression.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “jibbering”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.