jabberwocky

American  

[jab-er-wok-ee] / ˈdʒæb ərˌwɒk i /

Also jabberwock

noun

plural

jabberwockies

1. a playful imitation of language consisting of invented, meaningless words; nonsense; gibberish.

2. an example of writing or speech consisting of or containing meaningless words.

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adjective

1. consisting of or comparable to meaningless words; meaningless; senseless.

jabberwocky British  

/ ˈdʒæbəˌwɒkɪ /

noun

1. nonsense verse

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Etymology

Origin of jabberwocky

Coined in 1871 by Lewis Carroll ( def. ) in “Jabberwocky,” poem in Through the Looking Glass; nonsensical formation perhaps inspired by jabber ( def. ); claimed around 1883 by Carroll to mean “the result of much excited and voluble discussion” and derive from jabber + Old English wocer, wocor “fruit, offspring,” also “increase, usury”

Explanation

Jabberwocky is nonsense or gibberish — words that don't really mean anything. Your mom might comment on the music you like by saying, "It just sounds like jabberwocky to me." The made-up language you share with your sister can be described as jabberwocky, and so can the meaningless babble coming out of a toddler's mouth. The noun jabberwocky comes from a poem by the same name that Lewis Carroll included in his book "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There," which he wrote in 1871. The poem is full of colorful nonsense words, including the word jabberwocky itself.

Example Sentences

What were these jabberwocky words arranged in this order doing here?

From New York Times • Oct. 22, 2022

Her intolerance for political jabberwocky and inflated ego was equaled by her seemingly boundless personal generosity, which often led her to help strangers in need.

From Washington Post • Dec. 8, 2021

Me: “Was brelig in the slithy toads did gire and bible in the raids and the mobe beware the jabberwocky my son the boys that catch the fenrous bender snatch long time the maxim foam.”

From BusinessWeek • Aug. 9, 2012

At the time Cheers announced it was going out of production," Ohlmeyer says, "there was the same kind of jabberwocky about NBC's vulnerability.

From Time Magazine Archive

Moneymen were outraged by the ruling, while consumers were left more bewildered than ever by the jabberwocky of interest rates given by banks and S and Ls.

From Time Magazine Archive