Synonyms

malarkey

American

[muh-lahr-kee] / məˈlɑr ki /

Or malarky

noun

Informal.

speech or writing designed to obscure, mislead, or impress; bunkum.

The claims were just a lot of malarkey.

malarkey British

/ məˈlɑːkɪ /

noun

slang nonsense; rubbish

"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

Etymology

Origin of malarkey

An Americanism dating back to 1925–30; origin uncertain

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.

President Biden called the allegations "a load of malarkey."

From BBC • Aug. 11, 2023

In addition to making up pure malarkey, GPT-3 stopped mid-sentence.

From Salon • Jan. 22, 2023

But my most enduring impression of David, beyond all the Santa malarkey, is an email exchange from late September 2022.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 16, 2022

If only there was, like, an essential guide to how this World Cup draw malarkey works.

From The Guardian • Apr. 1, 2022

It’s all that World War I malarkey that gets me.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023