nonsense

American  

[non-sens, -suhns] / ˈnɒn sɛns, -səns /

noun

1. 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

2. conduct, action, etc., that is senseless, foolish, or absurd.

   to have tolerated enough nonsense.

3. impudent, insubordinate, or otherwise objectionable behavior.

   He doesn't have to take that nonsense from you.

4. something absurd or fatuous.

   the utter nonsense of such a suggestion.

5. anything of trifling importance or of little or no use.

6. Genetics. a DNA sequence that does not code for an amino acid and is not transcribed (distinguished from sense).

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nonsense British  

/ nɒnˈsɛnsɪkəl, ˈnɒnsəns /

noun

1. something that has or makes no sense; unintelligible language; drivel

2. conduct or action that is absurd

3. foolish or evasive behaviour or manners

   she'll stand no nonsense

4. See no-nonsense

5. things of little or no value or importance; trash

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interjection

1. an exclamation of disagreement

nonsense Scientific  

/ nŏn′sĕns′ /

1. 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.

2. See more at point mutation

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nonsense Idioms  

1. see stuff and nonsense.

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Other Word Forms

• nonsensicalness
  noun
• nonsensical
  adjective
• nonsensically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of nonsense

First recorded in 1605–15; non- + sense

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nonsense

When Thoreau spews nonsense, such as men, “like the earth, revolve mainly from west to east, and so are flattened at the poles,” let’s call the silliness by its real name.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Like Hathaway, Stella acts her part so sincerely that you’re not sure if Mitchell clued her in that the movie at large is nonsense.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

This seems like an awful lot of fuss and nonsense over a lost $100 in your case.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

This was nonsense, and Graham knew it; oil played little role in anything concerning Syria at the time.

From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026

Most of the time, she ended up with nonsense.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Related Words

• absurdity
• babble
• baloney
• bunk
• craziness
• drivel
• folly
• foolishness
• gibberish
• madness
• rubbish
• silliness
• stupidity
• trash