abracadabra

American  

[ab-ruh-kuh-dab-ruh] / ˌæb rə kəˈdæb rə /

noun

• abracadabras
  plural

1. a mystical word or expression used in incantations, on amulets, etc., as a magical means of warding off misfortune, harm, or illness.

2. any charm or incantation using nonsensical or supposedly magical words.

3. meaningless talk; gibberish; nonsense.

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abracadabra British  

/ ˌæbrəkəˈdæbrə /

interjection

1. a spoken formula, used esp by conjurors

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noun

1. a word used in incantations, etc, considered to possess magic powers

2. gibberish; nonsense

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• abracadabras
  plural

Etymology

Origin of abracadabra

1690–1700; < Late Latin, probably < Late Greek, perhaps reflecting recitation of the initial letters of the alphabet; cf. abecedary

Explanation

Abracadabra isn't just a magician's wind-up to a trick; it's also a word for a load of gibberish or nonsense. You probably know abracadabra as a word a magician might use before sawing a woman in half or making something disappear. However, it has another meaning similar to other reduplicative such as jibber-jabber and mumbo-jumbo: nonsense. Someone spouting a bunch of weird talk that doesn't make any sense is speaking abracadabra. If you want to dismiss something written or spoken, you could say, "That's a bunch of abracadabra!" Like a baby's babbling, abracadabra is meaningless.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

abracadabra abracadabras

Unlike sorcerer "Koshchei the Deathless", the Kremlin cannot abracadabra coins out of thin air.

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026

If retirement funds get to omit the costs of BDCs from their own reported expenses, surely private-equity, venture-capital, hedge funds and other “alternative” vehicles will demand the same abracadabra treatment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025

Two months ago, the state’s highest court nonetheless yelled abracadabra and changed the deadline to Nov. 6, while making postmarks optional.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 11, 2020

During one upcoming scene, as the pair displays wand skills with Daniel Radcliffe, Robinson plays to every lens, dashing across the stage and tumbling over the furniture to make the most of every abracadabra.

From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2019

I don’t say anything, but I’m somehow not embarrassed that I just finally said abracadabra and she’s all no, thank you.

From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King

Photograph: John Giles/PA With a quiet bank holiday afternoon to fill, the Mill yesterday dug out the old magic kit, brushed the cobwebs off its top hat and practiced a few abracadabras.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 28, 2012

The strange abracadabras that the editor read aloud in the hushed room in the Woolworth Building were the attempts of 284 mediums to prove that they had talked to a dead woman.

From Time Magazine Archive

In addition there were all kinds of superstitious designs, alchemistic abracadabras and symbols, in which no man of sense any longer believes.

From The Tower of Dago by Jókai, Mór