9 other words for ‘talk’

The word ‘talk’ is frequently used in English, yet there are many other different words you can use instead to be more specific and make your writing more interesting.

Many synonyms for ‘talk’ describe how quickly someone talks or how much they say – try some of the words below:

  • babble                  Little George sat in his pushchair, babbling away to himself.
  • burble                   As Grandad snoozed, his friend burbled on about his childhood.
  • chat                       I was just chatting to him the other day.
  • chatter                  It feels like Lila never stops chattering.
  • gabble                   “There’s no need to gabble,” Miss Macken said. “Take your time.”
  • jabber                   The toddler jabbered away.  
  • natter                   The pair would natter on the phone for hours.
  • prattle                   I do wish James would stop prattling about nothing.
  • witter                    They wittered on about what they had done at school.

Look at the Thesaurus entry for talk to find other synonyms and examples.

All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company, HarperCollins.

Other Articles

Reported speech

When you use reported speech, the words put into the reported clause do not exactly match the words spoken. ‘I’ll leave at 8.30 on Friday.’ à She says that she will leave at 8.30 on Friday. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you.’ à She says she’s looking forward to seeing us. Pronouns and possessive… Read More

Indirect speech

Indirect speech or reported speech reports something that was said, but does not use the actual words that the speaker uttered. Lynn asked whether Pippa had been to the new shopping mall. Pippa replied that she hadn’t, but she had heard that there were some really cool shops there. Reported speech always has two clauses. The words… Read More

Direct speech

Direct speech gives the actual words that a speaker has used. It is common in novels and other writing where the actual words of a speaker are quoted. The reporting verb may come before the words that were actually spoken, or after them, or at a natural pause inside the reported sentence. Read More