Empty talk inspiring fear or laughter (9)
I believe the answer is:
guffawing
'empty talk inspiring fear' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'laughter' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'laughter' could be 'guffaw' (guffaw is a kind of laughter) and 'guffaw' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'or' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for guffawing that I've seen before include "Showing amusement" , "Roaring" , "Maybe reacting to crack" .)