blather

/ˈblæðə(ɹ)/

//ˈblæðə(ɹ)// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"blather" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“blather” is uncommon English (frequency #70,505 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#70,505
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To talk rapidly without making much sense.

Corpus desk

Index EN-blather · blather · English

blather · rank #70,505 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #70,505
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH blacken

Nearest frequency peer: blacken (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “blather”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “blather” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for blather
PropertyValue
Headwordblather
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈblæðə(ɹ)/
Letters7
Frequency rank#70,505
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “blather” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).blatherfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “blacken” (#70,504), “Bloomingdale” (#70,506), “boldface” (#70,507). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “blather” is #70,505. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

blather is uncommon English at frequency #70,505 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈblæðə(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for blather, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bletheren, bloderen, from Old Norse blaðra (“to speak inarticulately, talk nonsense”). Cognate with Scots blether, bladder, bledder (“to blather”), dialectal German bladdern (“to talk nonsense, blather”), Norwegian bladra (“to babble, sp… The correct English form is blather, spelled B-L-A-T-H-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    To talk rapidly without making much sense.
  2. 2
    To say (something foolish or nonsensical); to say (something) in a foolish or overly verbose way.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how blather appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. “There you go blatherin’,” said Brindle, intending a mild rebuke.
  2. It was at the unveiling of Sir John Gray's statue. Edmund Dwyer Gray was speaking, blathering away, and here was this old fellow, crabbed-looking old chap, looking at him from under his bushy eyebrows.

Etymology

From Middle English bletheren, bloderen, from Old Norse blaðra (“to speak inarticulately, talk nonsense”). Cognate with Scots blether, bladder, bledder (“to blather”), dialectal German bladdern (“to talk nonsense, blather”), Norwegian bladra (“to babble, speak imperfectly”), Icelandic blaðra (“to twaddle”).

This word in other languages

despotricar(Español)déblatérer(Français)quasseln(Deutsch)tagarelar(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "blather"?
"blather" is spelled B-L-A-T-H-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈblæðə(ɹ)/.
What does "blather" mean?
As a verb, "blather" means: To talk rapidly without making much sense.
How do you pronounce "blather"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "blather" is /ˈblæðə(ɹ)/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "blather"?
From Middle English bletheren, bloderen, from Old Norse blaðra (“to speak inarticulately, talk nonsense”). Cognate with Scots blether, bladder, bledder (“to blather”), dialectal German bladdern (“to talk nonsense, blather”), Norwegian bladra (“to ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "blather", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

blacken#70,504Bharati#70,500beshear#70,499Brawley#70,512

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list