noun
-
empty talk; nonsense
-
empty or insincere speechmaking by a politician to please voters or gain publicity
Etymology
Origin of bunkum
An Americansim dating back to 1815–20; after a speech in the16th Congress (1819–21), by F. Walker, who said he was bound to speak for Buncombe (a county in the district in North Carolina that he represented)
Explanation
Bunkum is anything unacceptable, especially ridiculous lies. Calling something bunkum is like saying it's nonsense or rubbish. There's a lot of nonsense in the world, and there's also a ton of words that mean something similar to nonsense, like bunkum. People say "That's bunkum!" when something is false, crazy, or unfair. Getting fired for no reason is bunkum. A string of clichés from a politician is bunkum. An obvious lie is bunkum. This word especially applies to exaggerations and falsehoods. Someone who spins tall tales likes to talk bunkum, which is also called bunk.
Vocabulary lists containing bunkum
The BFG
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Fever 1793
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Unmapped Sea
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His previous U.N. speeches have been jammed with bluster and bunkum, but none more so than this one.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
"To suggest that we can't have effective scrutiny because of the size of the Senedd is a load of bunkum - look at the organ donation law, the smoking ban and plastic bags."
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2024
Almost no records survived, though, so the history of the Pony Express is littered with impostors, inaccuracies, and plain bunkum.
From National Geographic ● Jun. 23, 2018
But this mercantilist logic has been known to be bunkum for centuries.
From Economist ● Mar. 8, 2018
It is superfluous to mention that the whole of the messages sent by the local intelligence departments and by the De Wet expert were dismissed as "bunkum," often without perusal.
From On the Heels of De Wet by Lionel James
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
