Jabberwocky
[jab-er-wok-ee]
- a playful imitation of language consisting of invented, meaningless words; nonsense; gibberish.
- an example of writing or speech consisting of or containing meaningless words.
Show More
- consisting of or comparable to Jabberwocky; meaningless; senseless.
Show More
Also Jab·ber·wock [jab-er-wok] /ˈdʒæb ərˌwɒk/.
Origin of Jabberwocky
coined by Lewis Carroll in Jabberwocky, poem in Through the Looking Glass (1871)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for jabberwocky
Contemporary Examples
Lewis Carroll really did introduce the word “chortle” to the English language in his 1871 poem Jabberwocky.
Historical Examples
I heard somebody say "Sh," but she started in her toothless Jabberwocky.
The Red Rugs of TarsusHelen Davenport Gibbons
A setting of Lewis Carroll's immortal "Jabberwocky" shows much rich humor of the college glee-club sort.
Contemporary American ComposersRupert Hughes
After that some Indians came on the scene of action, fierce red men of the forest, and their language was decidedly Jabberwocky.
A Little Girl in Old New YorkAmanda Millie Douglas
jabberwocky
- nonsense verse
Show More
Word Origin
C19: coined by Lewis Carroll as the title of a poem in Through the Looking Glass (1871)
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 jabberwocky
Jabberwocky
1872, nonsense word (perhaps based on jabber) coined by Lewis Carroll, for the poem of the same name, which he published in "Through the Looking-Glass." The poem is about a fabulous beast called the Jabberwock.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper