claptrap

[ klap-trap ]

/ ˈklæpˌtræp /

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noun

pretentious but insincere or empty language: His speeches seem erudite but analysis reveals them to be mere claptrap.

any artifice or expedient for winning applause or impressing the public.

RELATED WORDS

bunk, bombast, drivel, nonsense

Nearby words

Origin of claptrap

First recorded in 1720–30; clap¹ + trap¹

SYNONYMS FOR claptrap

1. sham, humbug, hokum, nonsense, bunk.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR claptrap ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for claptrap

I do not want to hear any more of this claptrap and nonsense from you.
Inside Author Ray Bradbury’s FBI File: Was He a Communist Sympathizer?|Clark Merrefield|August 28, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It expresses the thought of the men who aren't taken in by the claptrap of progress.
Three Plays by Granville-Barker|Harley Granville-Barker
The Governor-General used to say they were vulgar and that it was all claptrap, but that never seemed to me quite fair.
Margarita's Soul|Ingraham Lovell
"I guess we'd better shet her claptrap once and fer all," he said.
From the Valley of the Missing|Grace Miller White

The retort is on a par with the proposition, and both are claptrap.
If Not Silver, What?|John W. Bookwalter
Let us for a few moments at least, put pretence and claptrap aside, and recall our own youth.
Mankind in the Making|H. G. Wells

British Dictionary definitions for claptrap

claptrap

/ (ˈklæpˌtræp) /

noun informal

contrived but foolish talk

insincere and pretentious talkpoliticians' claptrap

Word Origin for claptrap

C18 (in the sense: something contrived to elicit applause): from clap 1 + trap 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for claptrap

claptrap

c.1730, "trick to 'catch' applause," a stage term; from clap (v.) + trap (n.). Extended sense of "cheap, showy language" is from 1819; hence "nonsense, rubbish."