palaver

C2+ Topic:Communication

US /pəˈlævɚ/ UK /pəˈlɑːvə/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
prolonged and idle talk; a tedious fuss

After all that palaver, they simply postponed the decision.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · prolonged and idle talk; a... chatter prattle fuss jabber blather verbiage jaw

Opposites

silence conciseness

Word family

Related forms parable parley parabola

Etymology

From Portuguese palavra 'word, speech', from Latin parabola 'comparison, discourse', from Greek parabolē 'comparison'. Adopted by English sailors trading on the African coast, where it denoted a parley with natives.

palavra Portuguese parabola la-lat parabolḗ Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Communication Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# palaver

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /pəˈlævɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /pəˈlɑːvə/

## Meanings
1. prolonged and idle talk; a tedious fuss

## Examples
- After all that palaver, they simply postponed the decision.

## Synonyms
- chatter
- prattle
- fuss
- jabber
- blather
- verbiage
- jaw

## Antonyms
- silence
- conciseness

## Related Forms
- parable
- parley
- parabola

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: palavra
- Root: parabola
- Root: parabolḗ

## Etymology
From Portuguese palavra 'word, speech', from Latin parabola 'comparison, discourse', from Greek parabolē 'comparison'. Adopted by English sailors trading on the African coast, where it denoted a parley with natives.

## AI Etymology
Palaver comes from Portuguese palavra 'word, speech', from Latin parabola 'comparison, discourse', from Greek parabolē 'comparison'. Adopted by English sailors trading on the African coast, where it denoted a parley with natives. The historical trail runs through Portuguese palavra, Latin parabola and Ancient Greek parabolḗ. In modern use it means prolonged and idle talk; a tedious fuss. Related forms include parable, parley, parabola.

## Topics
- Communication
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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