folderol

noun

fol·​de·​rol ˈfäl-də-ˌräl 

variants or less commonly falderal

ˈfal-də-ˌral 

1

: a useless ornament or accessory : trifle

2

: nonsense

Did you know?

Hogwash. Claptrap. Hooey. Drivel. Malarkey. English is rife with words that mean "nonsense," and "folderol" is one of the many. Though not the most common of the words for nonsense, it's been around since 1820 and is still heard today. "Folderol" comes from "fol-de-rol" (or "fal-de-ral"), which used to be a nonsense refrain in songs, much like "tra-la-la." The oldest recorded instance of someone "singing folderol" occurs in Irish dramatist George Farquhar's 1701 play Sir Harry Wildair, in which a character sings, "Fal, al, deral!"

Synonyms of folderol

• nonsense
• nuts
• garbage
• silliness
• blah
• rubbish
• stupidity
• jazz
• drool

Examples of folderol in a Sentence

I wish we could just discuss these questions without having to go through all the folderol of a formal meeting.

wanted a dignified, simple wedding and not the folderol that the wedding planner was trying to foist on them

Recent Examples on the Web

Kay wants to remind you that all the folderol of the legal system only makes real communication more difficult, which is a small and foregone conclusion. — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026

Given the public’s fixation on Saturday Night Live in 2025, the show’s 50th year—marked by all manner of celebratory folderol, including a big anniversary show and a series of SNL50 mini-docs—most of us have been SNL’ed into exhaustion. — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 17 Apr. 2026

King’s Chapel was established in 1683 as the first Anglican church in New England, which was settled starting in 1620 by dissenters who wanted a theocracy and religion shorn of folderol, cant, and the stink of popes and kings. — Brian T. Allen, National Review, 19 July 2025

Yet Bennett and pianist Ralph Sharon strip away any and all rococo folderol to get to the meat of rejection with their spare, cutting (yet still happily hammy) rendition. — A.d. Amorosi, Variety, 21 July 2023

Word History

Etymology

fol-de-rol, a nonsense refrain in songs

First Known Use

circa 1820, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for folderol

• aerosol
• alcohol
• arbitral
• basketball
• butanol
• cannonball
• carbinol
• cortisol
• ethanol
• fireball
• gasohol
• gossypol

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