as in to chat
to engage in casual or rambling conversation
the young executive gratingly prated on about his weekend hobnobbing with the rich
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in tattle
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Recent Examples of prate
Bruce Sterling, WIRED, 1 July 2004
Verb
Erinys doesn't prate about democracy or social betterment but simply guards oil pipelines.
—Bruce Sterling, WIRED, 1 July 2004
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prate
Verb
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So far, he’s been spotted draped in a full-length, white fluffy coat and fire engine-red hat and gloves, watching the women’s downhill race, and casually chatting with onlookers at the curling mixed doubles, adorned in a zip-jacket emblazoned with Team USA players’ faces.—
Sheena McKenzie,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Our winter season continues with Adina Hoffman (recipient of a 2013 Windham-Campbell Prize for Nonfiction) chatting with Michael Kelleher about Georges Perec’s magical and mercurial and maddening An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, translated by Marc Lowenthal.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The diary takes in all the tittle tattle, including rumors around a Paramount bid for ITV, a re-up of The Crown EP Andy Harries’ Sony contract and a heroic Channel 4 comms chief swooping in to save the day after hacks were locked out of the traditional King’s College banquet.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
19 Sep. 2025
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And to those working in the U.K. capital’s entertainment industry, this tidbit of insider tattle may not come as a surprise.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
6 May 2025
Verb
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Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders said at trial that the custody exchange on the day of the shooting was a ruse for Payne to talk his way back into Lane's life.—
Quinlan Bentley,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Keith Law is doing a live chat today to talk MLB prospects.—
Chris Branch,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The incident came up during a conversation with guest Jason Bateman, who had complimented Fallon on his gift of the gab after the host appeared on an episode of his Smartless podcast.—
Emlyn Travis,
Entertainment Weekly,
18 Sep. 2025
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Having a gift for gab definitely helps pass the time between bites, Hinrichs says.—
Brad Dokken,
Twin Cities,
16 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Reading a book — yes, a real book with pages, gotten from a library or a store, not a Kindle; conversing, face-to-face, with a friend; taking a walk in a park or in the country?—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
6 Feb. 2026
-
No wonder people have lost the ability to converse!—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Out in the hallway, the raucous chatter of teenagers echoed in the halls, and cars honked on the busy street outside to pick them up.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
The container shipping company has been the subject of recent chatter regarding a possible sale.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The father, Man, prattles on about mowing the lawn, painting the fence, and managing their orchard’s irrigation, while the son periodically falls off his chair from boredom.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Dec. 2025
-
The result is an entirely incoherent crime thriller that features gangsters prattling on about the self and the ego and the soul and then occasionally wandering into an entirely different scene where other gangsters are prattling on about the same thing.—
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
27 May 2025
Noun
-
The public is simply not buying it and is looking for an alternative. Enough of the twaddle about how voting Democratic is voting to save democracy.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
1 Jan. 2024
-
Perhaps News Nation is trying to assume the mantle of Fox News as a dispenser of right-wing twaddle, or (to be more charitable) of CNN as a sober neutral voice.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
29 June 2023
Cite this Entry
“Prate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prate. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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