noun
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informal foolish talk; nonsense
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another name for bologna sausage
Etymology
Origin of baloney
1915–20, 1925–30 baloney for def. 2; alteration of bologna, with substitution of -ey 2 for final schwa
Explanation
Baloney is nonsense. When someone says something completely ridiculous, call it a bunch of baloney. If your friend tells you a unicorn on roller skates ate the last cookie, tell her she’s full of baloney! The word baloney comes from the sandwich meat called bologna, which is typically made of leftover scraps of meat. Around 1920, baloney came to mean "nonsense," and it was also used to describe an unskilled boxer. Use it to describe utter nonsense, not necessarily evil lies, but just words that mean nothing. A politician who spouts clichés but really says nothing is full of baloney, and so is a pretentious artist or a pompous showoff.
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.
It was always baloney, and Meta has just exposed all the people who made that argument as phonies.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
“The older people can usually see through the baloney pretty quick, but the young people, not so much,” James said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Antoni, who has a PhD in economics, has previously criticised the BLS, questioning its methodology and calling its statistics "phoney baloney".
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025
To non-lawyers, this may seem to cut the baloney mighty thin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2024
Just so happens that I’ve got a spare baloney and mustard sandwich and an apple in the car.
From "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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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.
