From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpalaverpa‧la‧ver /pəˈlɑːvə $ -ˈlævər/ noun [singular, uncountable] especially British English informalPROBLEM unnecessary trouble and anxiety that makes something seem more important than it really is SYN fuss We could have done without all this palaver. What a palaver over nothing!
Examples from the Corpus
palaver• Budget palaver and acute short-termism seem to go hand in hand.• Will they view it as an opportunity to attack their opponents or deliver empty palaver?• There's been a lot of palaver about feminist oversensitivity to language.• Can't have this sort of palaver going on, not here.• Between them all, they managed to get Liam to the house, the twins being much amused by all the palaver.• For all the palaver about men playing full parenting roles, fathers desire, seek, contrive and protect their anonymity.• If you can't be bothered with any of this palaver, buy a whole fillet of beef.Origin palaver (1700-1800) Portuguese palavra “word, speech”, from Late Latin parabola; → PARABLE 