Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

fiddling

/fˈɪdlɪŋ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.94 in modern English

Syllables: fid-dling
IPA: /fˈɪdlɪŋ/

14

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

present participle and gerund of fiddle

noun

The playing of music on a fiddle.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The act of fidgeting.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Tweaking; manipulation.

Countable; Uncountable

adj

Of petty or trivial importance; footling

Example Sentences

"He was fiddling while Rome burned."
"[W]e, her doctors […] seemed powerless to prevent [side-effects], despite all our reassurances, and all our fiddlings and manipulations with the dosage[…]"
"Was it deliberate that the first week of October 1961 was chosen to conduct a national survey of passenger usage? Why October of all months, when the holiday season was over and families back at work and at school? Was this a fiddling of the figures to make an unfair case against rail-dependent resorts such as those in the West Country, Norfolk, Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire, where previously overloaded summer services would now only have a handful of locals on board?"
"It was a fiddling little fault, but ultimately proved disastrous."

Usage

Inflected Forms

fiddlings (plural)

Synonyms

fiddlery tweakery footling lilliputian little niggling piddling piffling petty picayune trivial

Rhymes With

twiddling

Questions

How do you pronounce fiddling?: The recorded pronunciation is /fˈɪdlɪŋ/.
What does fiddling mean?: present participle and gerund of fiddle

How to pronounce fiddling

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “fiddling”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/fˈɪdlɪŋ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “fiddling”.
Repeat and practice — Say “fiddling” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.