jangle
English · Français · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
jangle¹
- /ˈd͡ʒæŋɡəl/
- [ˈd͡ʒæŋɡəl] ~ [ˈd͡ʒæŋɡl̩]
- /ˈd͡ʒeɪ̯ŋɡəl/ Canada, US
- [ˈd͡ʒeɪ̯ŋɡəl] ~ [ˈd͡ʒeɪ̯ŋɡl̩] Canada, US
- /ˈd͡ʒɛ̃ŋɡəl/ Canada, US
- [ˈd͡ʒɛ̃ŋɡəl] ~ [ˈd͡ʒɛ̃ŋɡl̩] Canada, US
Rhymes with -æŋɡəl
Where it comes from
From Middle English janglen (“to talk excessively, chatter; to talk idly, gossip; to nag; to complain, grumble; to argue, debate; to discuss, talk; to talk indistinctly, jabber; to make a noise or outcry; of a bird: to chatter, twitter”) [and other forms], from Old French jangler (“to chatter, gossip; to argue noisily; to bawl”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Old Dutch *jangelon (“to jeer”) (compare Middle Dutch jangelen (“to murmur, grumble, buzz, mutter, drone, simmer”), modern Dutch jengelen (“to whine, persistently nag, whimper”), though the Oxford English Dictionary finds this improbable) and ultimately imitative.
verb jangles · jangling · jangled
- To cause (something) to make a rattling metallic sound. Now ſee what noble and moſt ſoueraigne reaſon / Like ſweet bells iangled, out of time, and harſh, /That vnmatcht forme, and ſtature of blowne youth / Blaſted with extacie, […]
- To express or say (something) in an argumentative or harsh manner. You always could / Find that soft spot in me when I was angry / You always could / Jangle everything that I would say / Until you got it your way
- To irritate or jar (something). The sound from the next apartment jangled my nerves.
- To make a rattling metallic sound. A ſincere Heart that would ſerve God with his beſt, findeth more in a duty, than he could expect: and by Praying gets more of the fervency and Ardours of praying, as a Bell may be long a raiſing, but when it is up it jangleth not as it did at firſt.
- To speak in an angry or harsh manner. What jangleſt thou Jedburgh? thou jags for nought, / There ſhal a guilful groom dwell thee within, / The towre that thou truſts in, as the truth is, / Shal be traced with a trace, trow thou none other: […]
-
To quarrel verbally; to wrangle.
Good witts will be iangling, but gentles agree, / This ciuill warre of wittes were much better vſed / On Nauar and his Bookmen, for heere tis abuſed.
Similar: squabble
- Of a person: to speak loudly or too much; to chatter, to prate; of a bird: to make a noisy chattering sound. It was uſual then about midnight, when there was no noiſe in the houſe, but all ſtill, to hear the two nightingales jangling, and talking with each other, and plainly imitating men's diſcourſes.
jangle²
- /ˈd͡ʒæŋɡəl/
- [ˈd͡ʒæŋɡəl] ~ [ˈd͡ʒæŋɡl̩]
- /ˈd͡ʒeɪ̯ŋɡəl/ Canada, US
- [ˈd͡ʒeɪ̯ŋɡəl] ~ [ˈd͡ʒeɪ̯ŋɡl̩] Canada, US
- /ˈd͡ʒɛ̃ŋɡəl/ Canada, US
- [ˈd͡ʒɛ̃ŋɡəl] ~ [ˈd͡ʒɛ̃ŋɡl̩] Canada, US
Rhymes with -æŋɡəl
Where it comes from
From Middle English jangle (“gossip, idle talk; a dispute”), from Anglo-Norman jangle and Old French jangle (“gossip, idle talk; a dispute”), from Old French jangler (“to chatter, gossip; to argue noisily; to bawl”): see further at etymology 1. Later uses are derived directly from the verb.
Sense 3 (“sound typified by undistorted, treble-heavy electric guitars”) is said to derive from a line in the song Mr. Tambourine Man (1965) by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (born 1941): “Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me / In the jingle jangle morning, I’ll come following you.”
noun jangles
- A rattling metallic sound; a clang. E'en as she spake they heard the musical jangle of sleigh-bells, / First far off, with a dreamy sound and faint in the distance, […]
- The sound of people talking noisily.
-
Arguing, contention, squabbling.
[I]t may be juſtly ask't, whether Timothy by this here written might know what was to be knowne concerning the orders of Church-governours or no? If he might, then in ſuch a cleere text as this may we know too without further jangle; […]
Similar: altercation, bickering
-
A sound typified by undistorted, treble-heavy electric guitars, played in a droning chordal style, characteristic of 1960s folk rock and 1980s indie rock music.
If you like ‘jangle guitar’—where the guitar parts are chordal, arpeggiated and rhythmic—listen to players like Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, Peter Buck with R.E.M. (Life’s Rich Pageant) or Johnny Marr with The Smiths (The Queen Is Dead).
Similar: jingle-jangle
Translations
Every language
verb to cause (something) to make a rattling metallic sound
| Español | hacer sonar |
|---|
verb to make a rattling metallic sound
| Español | hacer un ruido metálico |
|---|---|
| Français | cliqueter |
noun rattling metallic sound — see also clang
| Español | ruido metálico |
|---|
Talk about this word "jangle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/jangle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. jangle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/jangle "jangle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/jangle.Cite this
@misc{jangle_2026,
title = {jangle},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/jangle},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
