nonsense
Americannoun
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words or language having little or no sense or meaning.
- Synonyms:
- twaddle, trumpery, trash, tommyrot, rubbish, rot, poppycock, piffle, moonshine, humbug, hooey, hokum, guff, gibberish, foolishness, folderol, flapdoodle, fiddle-faddle, drivel, bunk, bull, bosh, blether, blatherskite, blather, blarney, bilge water, bilge, baloney, balderdash
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conduct, action, etc., that is senseless, foolish, or absurd.
to have tolerated enough nonsense.
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impudent, insubordinate, or otherwise objectionable behavior.
He doesn't have to take that nonsense from you.
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something absurd or fatuous.
the utter nonsense of such a suggestion.
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anything of trifling importance or of little or no use.
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Genetics. a DNA sequence that does not code for an amino acid and is not transcribed (distinguished from sense).
noun
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something that has or makes no sense; unintelligible language; drivel
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conduct or action that is absurd
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foolish or evasive behaviour or manners
she'll stand no nonsense
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See no-nonsense
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things of little or no value or importance; trash
interjection
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Relating to a mutation in a structural gene that changes a nucleotide triplet into a stop codon, thus prematurely terminating the polypeptide chain during protein synthesis.
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See more at point mutation
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nonsense
Explanation
Nonsense is stuff that sounds like language but doesn't have any meaning, like the phrase higgledy-piggledy-po, or fwumphy-doo. The most famous nonsense poem is Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky." Nonsense means exactly what it sounds like: not containing a lick of sense. Nonsense words are made up. But sometimes if you say something in a really confusing way, people will say you're speaking nonsense: even though you're using normal words, you don't make any sense. Sometimes people will dismiss ideas that they don't like by calling them nonsense, but you might know better. Little household knick-knacks that have no purpose are also called nonsense.
Vocabulary lists containing nonsense
"Eleven," Vocabulary from the short story
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Selection Vocabulary 1, Unit 1
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"Eleven," Vocabulary from the short story
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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.
The lawyer had cited an unsafe workplace, a description Ackman rejected, vowing to “fight this nonsense to the end of the earth.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026
“Not at all – didn t see the press here 😬 and journalists write a lot of nonsense anyways,” she replied.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
Wilson on Tuesday denied she mistreated women while making "The Deb", saying this was "nonsense".
From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026
Advocate depute Alan Cameron put it to her that it was "just nonsense" to suggest another child caused such injuries.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
“It’s not nonsense, Mr. Jankowski,” she says, going to the window and opening the blinds.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Definitions 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.
