A flibbertigibbet is a person who gossips or chatters about anything. Centuries ago, it might have been used to indicate someone flighty or silly. The word made it into Shakespeare’s works as the name for a devil, so it was well known at that time.
“I was stuck on the bus sitting next to an old flibbertigibbet who never stopped talking about her cats.”
“As Maria got older, she became a flibbertigibbet and in social situations just could not stop gossiping.”
“At the neighborhood barbecue, everyone gathered around the old flibbertigibbet Susie; she always had the inside scoop on neighborhood gossip.”
Obtrude means making something too noticeable or unwelcome, like a loud noise. It is also used to indicate someone or something that interrupts another person or thing.
“I would have gone to visit Sam after his accident, but I did not want to obtrude on his privacy.”
“Unfortunately, newspaper reporters often obtrude on the grief of others and violate their privacy.”
“This is not a time when party politics should obtrude on common sense.”
Using these two words together was a struggle, at least for me. Really obscure words like this take a lot of work to combine.
“I did not mean to obtrude on their discussion, but that old flibbertigibbet was gossiping so loudly we could not hear anything.”
“She tried not to obtrude her opinions, yet the office flibbertigibbet kept dragging her into each trivial debate.
“Rather than obtrude with complaints, she quietly left the room where an old flibbertigibbet was chattering nonstop.”
