Flibbertigibbet
A Middle English term for a flighty or gossipy person.
Flibbertigibbet is a Middle English term for someone flighty or whimsical. Today, it’s used as slang in Yorkshire, England, for a gossipy or overly talkative person. The word may have originated as a meaningless imitation of chattering.
In literature and culture, it has a history as a name for a fiend or spirit. In the 15th-century morality play *The Castle of Perseverance*, the Bad Angel calls the vice figure Detraccio “Flyprgebet.” In Shakespeare’s *King Lear*, Edgar claims a fiend named Flibbertigibbet possesses him as beggar Tom o’ Bedlam. Shakespeare took the name from Samuel Harsnett’s *Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures*, where Fliberdigibbet is one of forty fiends cast out by Jesuits. The word has also been used as a synonym for Puck, and as a nickname for a character in Sir Walter Scott’s *Kenilworth*, gaining the meaning of an impish child. Victor Hugo adapted *Kenilworth* into a play, *Amy Robsart*, where Flibbertigibbet is a main character.
In local legend about Wayland’s Smithy, Flibbertigibbet was an apprentice to Wayland the Smith who exasperated his master so much that Wayland threw him down a hill, turning him into stone. Scott links his *Kenilworth* character to Wayland Smith. In Roald Dahl’s 1942 novel *The Gremlins*, female gremlin children are called Flibbertigibbets. In *The Sound of Music*, nuns describe free-spirited Maria as “a flibbertigibbet! A will-o’-the-wisp! A clown!” In Kurt Vonnegut’s *Slaughterhouse-Five*, Barbara Pilgrim is called a “bitchy flibbertigibbet.” In the film *Joe Versus the Volcano*, Meg Ryan’s character Angelica calls herself one. In *Ready Player One*, the character Art3mis refers to herself as a Flibbertigibbet. In 2018, Chris Redmile’s children’s book *The Flibber-ti-gibbet* used the word to teach about ADHD traits. In 2022, British politician Lord Cormack called Michael Gove a “Flibbertigibbet” during a dispute over House of Lords relocation.
- origin
- Middle English
- modern_usage
- Slang term in Yorkshire, England for a gossipy or overly talkative person
- first_literary_appearance
- 15th-century morality play The Castle of Perseverance
- notable_literary_uses
- Shakespeare's King Lear, Sir Walter Scott's Kenilworth, Victor Hugo's Amy Robsart
- associated_meaning
- Impish child, fiend, devil, or spirit
Lore & Background
The word has a historical use as a name for a fiend, devil, or spirit. In the 15th-century English morality play The Castle of Perseverance, the Bad Angel addresses the vice figure Detraccio as Flyprgebet. In William Shakespeare's King Lear, it is one of the five fiends that Edgar claimed was possessing him. Shakespeare got the name from Samuel Harsnett's Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures, where Fliberdigibbet is described as one of 'foure deuils of the round, or Morrice.'
Reader's Guide
Flibbertigibbet's significance lies in its long evolution from a medieval term for a fiend to a modern slang word for a gossipy person. Its appearances in major literary works—from The Castle of Perseverance to Shakespeare's King Lear, and later in Scott's Kenilworth and Hugo's Amy Robsart—demonstrate its enduring cultural resonance. The word also appears in Roald Dahl's The Gremlins, where female gremlin children are called Flibbertigibbets, and in the musical The Sound of Music, where nuns describe Sister Maria as a flibbertigibbet. In the 20th and 21st centuries, it has been used in novels such as Slaughterhouse-Five and Ready Player One, in the film Joe Versus the Volcano, and in British political discourse, as when Lord Cormack referred to Michael Gove as a 'Flibbertigibbet' in 2022. Its legacy is as a versatile term for flightiness, gossip, or impishness, rooted in folklore and literature.
Did You Know?
- In the 15th-century morality play The Castle of Perseverance, the word appears as Flyprgebet.
- In Shakespeare's King Lear, Flibbertigibbet is one of five fiends possessing Edgar.
- In Roald Dahl's The Gremlins, female gremlin children are called Flibbertigibbets.
- In 2022, British politician Lord Cormack referred to Michael Gove as a 'Flibbertigibbet'.
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