Adjacent Words

Nonsense definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NON'SENSE, n.
1. No sense; words or language which have no meaning, or which convey no just ideas; absurdity.
2. Trifles; things of no importance.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: having no intelligible meaning; "nonsense syllables"; "a nonsensical jumble of words" [syn: nonsense, nonsensical] n
1: a message that seems to convey no meaning [syn: nonsense, bunk, nonsensicality, meaninglessness, hokum]
2: ornamental objects of no great value [syn: folderal, falderol, frill, gimcrackery, gimcrack, nonsense, trumpery]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Date: 1614 1. a. words or language having no meaning or conveying no intelligible ideas b. (1) language, conduct, or an idea that is absurd or contrary to good sense (2) an instance of absurd action 2. a. things of no importance or value ; trifles b. affected or impudent conduct <took no nonsense from subordinates> 3. genetic information consisting of one or more codons that do not code for any amino acid and usually cause termination of the molecular chain in protein synthesis • nonsensical adjective • nonsensically adverb • nonsensicalness noun II. adjective Date: 1799 1. consisting of an arbitrary grouping of speech sounds or symbols <?shro?g-?th?-?mpth is a nonsense word> <a nonsense syllable> 2. consisting of one or more codons that are genetic nonsense — compare antisense, missense

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a (often as int.) absurd or meaningless words or ideas; foolish or extravagant conduct. b an instance of this. 2 a scheme, arrangement, etc., that one disapproves of. 3 (often attrib.) a form of literature meant to amuse by absurdity (nonsense verse). Derivatives: nonsensical adj. nonsensicality n. (pl. -ies). nonsensically adv.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nonsense Non"sense, n. [Pref. non- + sense: cf. F. nonsens.] 1. That which is not sense, or has no sense; words, or language, which have no meaning, or which convey no intelligible ideas; absurdity. 2. Trifles; things of no importance. Nonsense verses, lines made by taking any words which occur, but especially certain words which it is desired to recollect, and arranging them without reference to anything but the measure, so that the rhythm of the lines may aid in recalling the remembrance of the words. Syn: Folly; silliness; absurdity; trash; balderdash.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you say that something spoken or written is nonsense, you mean that you consider it to be untrue or silly. Most orthodox doctors however dismiss this as complete nonsense. ...all that poetic nonsense about love... 'I'm putting on weight.'—'Nonsense my dear.' = rubbish N-UNCOUNT [disapproval] 2. You can use nonsense to refer to something that you think is foolish or that you disapprove of. Surely it is an economic nonsense to deplete the world of natural resources... I think there is a limit to how much of this nonsense people are going to put up with. N-UNCOUNT: also a N, usu supp N [disapproval] 3. You can refer to spoken or written words that do not mean anything because they do not make sense as nonsense. ...a children's nonsense poem by Charles E Carryl. N-UNCOUNT 4. see also no-nonsense 5. To make a nonsense of something or to make nonsense of it means to make it seem ridiculous or pointless. The fighting made a nonsense of peace pledges made in London last week... PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Folly, absurdity, stuff, trash, moonshine, twaddle, balderdash, fudge, inanity, platitude. 2. Trifles, things of no consequence or importance.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

Melting butter in a wig.

Moby Thesaurus

Greek, absurdity, absurdness, amphigory, antics, applesauce, babble, babblement, balderdash, baloney, bibble-babble, bilge, blabber, blah, blather, blatherskite, blether, bombast, bosh, buffoonery, bull, bullshit, bunk, bunkum, bushwa, cackle, capering, claptrap, cock, crap, double Dutch, double-talk, drip, drivel, drool, eyewash, fantasticalness, fiddle-faddle, fiddledeedee, flapdoodle, flimflam, flummery, folderol, foolishness, frivolity, fudge, fustian, gabble, galimatias, gammon, garbage, gas, gibber, gibberish, gibble-gabble, gobbledygook, gook, guff, hocus-pocus, hogwash, hokum, hooey, horsefeathers, horseplay, hot air, humbug, inanity, jabber, jabberwocky, jargon, jazz, jesting, jiggery-pokery, jokes, joking, ludicrousness, malarkey, mischief, monkey business, monkeyshines, monstrousness, moonshine, mumbo jumbo, mumbo-jumbo, narrishkeit, niaiserie, nonsensicality, outrageousness, pack of nonsense, palaver, piffle, poppycock, pranks, prate, prattle, preposterousness, puffery, punk, rant, ridiculousness, rigamarole, rigmarole, rodomontade, rot, rubbish, shenanigans, shit, silliness, skimble-skamble, stuff and nonsense, stultiloquence, tomfoolery, tommyrot, trash, tricks, tripe, trumpery, twaddle, twattle, twiddle-twaddle, vaporing, waffle, waffling, waggishness, wildness