Folderol
noun ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Nonsense or foolishness. uncountable
"William Maclay, a Pennsylvania Democrat and a senator, was a watchdog against the development of any monarchial folderol gathering about the office of the president."
- 2 nonsensical talk or writing wordnet
- 3 A decorative object of little value; a trifle or gewgaw. countable
"And they made a mistake there: the prizes were a lot of folderols and doodads like poetry books and illustrated Testaments, instead of something a real live kid would want to work for, like real cash or a speedometer for his motor cycle."
Example
More examples"William Maclay, a Pennsylvania Democrat and a senator, was a watchdog against the development of any monarchial folderol gathering about the office of the president."
Etymology
Originally a nonsense refrain in songs, since circa 1701, as "fal, al, deral!", and 1820, used to make the song longer without adding more meaningful content (see non-lexical vocables in music). Compare falleri, fallera, extended as falleralla or fallerallera, in Swedish and German songs.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.