labern
German, verb/ˈlaːbɐn/
labern is spelled L-A-B-E-R-N (6 letters) and appears 2.3 times per million words in written German, the 21,569th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Labern is a German verb meaning “to talk or speak unnecessarily lengthily; to talk idly; to engage in unsubstantiated talk; to babble” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “ohne Substanz und/oder unnötig lange, gewunden und umständlich, wortreich reden oder monologisieren”.
What does labern mean in English?
verb
- 1
obsoleteto slurp; to drink noisily
- 2
informalto talk or speak unnecessarily lengthily; to talk idly; to engage in unsubstantiated talk; to babble
Als guter Politiker hat unser Bürgermeister auf der Bühne so lange gelabert, dass die Verspätung des Orchesters gar nicht auffiel.
- 3
colloquialto chat; to talk among each other (usually about light topics); the verb retains a certain nuance, but becomes rather neutral
Und? Was habt ihr gemacht? – Och, nur Kaffee getrunken und schön mal gelabert.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. ohne Substanz und/oder unnötig lange, gewunden und umständlich, wortreich reden oder monologisieren 2. ungezwungen miteinander reden, sich entspannt unterhalten
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of labern
- labert present singular third-person
- laberte past
- gelabert participle past
- haben auxiliary
- labernd participle present
- labre first-person indicative present
- labere first-person indicative present
- laber first-person indicative present
- laberst indicative present second-person
- laberest second-person singular subjunctive
- labrest second-person singular subjunctive
- laberet plural second-person subjunctive
- labret plural second-person subjunctive
- laberten first-person indicative plural
- labertest indicative preterite second-person
- labertet indicative plural preterite
- labere! imperative singular
- laber! imperative singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce labern?
- /ˈlaːbɐn/
- [ˈlaːbɐn]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to labern
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is labern in German?
labern appears 2.3 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).