chatterbox

English

Etymology

From chatter +‎ box.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtʃæ.tə(ɹ)ˌbɒks/
  • (UK) /ˈtʃæ.təˌbɒks/
  • (US) /ˈtʃæt.əɹ-/, /ˈtʃæ.dəɹˌbɑks/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætə(ɹ)bɒks
• Hyphenation: chat‧ter‧box

Noun

chatterbox (plural chatterboxes)

1. (informal) One who chats or talks to excess.
   • 2014 November 14, Blake Bailey, “'Tennessee Williams,' by John Lahr [print version: Theatrical victory of art over life, International New York Times, 18 November 2014, p. 13]”, in The New York Times Book Review‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 August 2025:

     [S]he [Edwina, mother of Tennessee Williams] was indeed Amanda [Wingfield, character in Williams' play The Glass Menagerie] in the flesh: a doughty chatterbox from Ohio who adopted the manner of a Southern belle and eschewed both drink and sex to the greatest extent possible.

2. Synonym of cootie catcher (“children's fortune-telling device”).
3. (computing) Synonym of chatterbot.
4. The orchid Epipactis gigantea.

Synonyms

• (one who chats to excess): babbler, jabberer, chatterer, yakker; see also Thesaurus:chatterbox

Translations

one who chats or talks to excess — see also yapper

• Arabic: ثَرْثَار (ar) (ṯarṯār)
• Belarusian: лапату́н m (lapatún), лапату́ха f (lapatúxa), лапату́шка f (lapatúška), ласкату́н m (laskatún), ласкату́ха f (laskatúxa), ласкату́шка f (laskatúška)
• Bulgarian: бъбри́ца (bg) m or f (băbríca), кречета́ло (bg) n (krečetálo), лате́рна f (latérna)
• Catalan: xerraire (ca) m or f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 話匣子 / 话匣子 (zh) (huàxiázi), 喋喋不休者 (diédiébùxiū-zhě), 話癆 / 话痨 (zh) (huàláo)

• Czech: kecal (cs)
• Danish: sladretaske c, sludrechatol n
• Dutch: kletskous (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: babilemulo
• Finnish: lörppö (fi), lörpöttelijä (fi), hölösuu (fi)
• French: moulin à paroles (fr) m
• Galician: charlatán m
• German: Dampfplauderer (de) m, Plaudertasche (de) f, Quasselstrippe (de) f, Schwätzer (de) m, Schwätzerin (de) f, Labermaul n, Labertasche (de) f

  Alemannic German: Chlepfe f

• Greek: πολυλογάς (el) m (polylogás), φαφλατάς (el) m (faflatás)

  Ancient Greek: στώμυλμα n (stṓmulma)

• Hungarian: locsi-fecsi (hu), szélkelep (hu)
• Irish: cabaire m
• Italian: chiacchierone (it) m, ciancione m, linguacciuto (it) m
• Japanese: おしゃべり (ja) (oshaberi)
• Kazakh: сумақай (suwmaqay)
• Latin: lingulāca f
• Latvian: pļāpa
• Macedonian: кречетало (krečetalo), брборко (brborko), алапача f (alapača), дрдорко m (drdorko)
• Māori: kohe, komarero, pane kākā, ngutu kotete
• Mazanderani: پرسرو (persro)
• Norman: bailleux d'goule m, caqu'teux m
• Occitan: barjacaire, charraire
• Plautdietsch: Plaupamul m
• Polish: gaduła (pl) m pers or f
• Portuguese: tagarela (pt) m or f, falador (pt) m, gralha (pt) f, grafonola, falastrão, boquirroto (pt), linguarudo (pt)
• Russian: болту́н (ru) m (boltún), болту́нья (ru) f (boltúnʹja), болту́шка (ru) f (boltúška), лопоту́н (ru) m (lopotún), лопоту́ха (ru) f (lopotúxa), лопоту́нья (ru) f (lopotúnʹja)
• Serbo-Croatian: brbljavac (sh) m, brbljavica (sh) f
• Spanish: loro (es) m, lora f, charlatán (es) m, cotorra (es) f, (verb), parlanchín (es) m
• Tangut: 𗀁𗢯 (*sa lhjwa¹)
• Turkish: geveze (tr), (Konya) şapır
• Ukrainian: балаку́н (uk) m (balakún), балаку́ха (uk) f (balakúxa), лепету́н m (lepetún), лепету́ха f (lepetúxa)
• Walloon: tchafiåd (wa) m, tchafete (wa) f (man and woman), berdeleu (wa) m, Mareye-tarame (wa) f (man and woman)