jabberwocky

[ jab-er-wok-ee ]

noun

, plural jab·ber·wock·ies.

1. a playful imitation of language consisting of invented, meaningless words; nonsense; gibberish.
2. an example of writing or speech consisting of or containing meaningless words.

adjective

1. consisting of or comparable to meaningless words; meaningless; senseless.

jabberwocky

/ ˈdʒæbəˌwɒkɪ /

noun

1. nonsense verse

Word History and Origins

Origin of jabberwocky¹

Coined in 1871 by Lewis Carroll ( def ) in “Jabberwocky,” poem in Through the Looking Glass; nonsensical formation perhaps inspired by jabber ( def ); claimed around 1883 by Carroll to mean “the result of much excited and voluble discussion” and derive from jabber + Old English wocer, wocor “fruit, offspring,” also “increase, usury”

Word History and Origins

Origin of jabberwocky¹

C19: coined by Lewis Carroll as the title of a poem in Through the Looking Glass (1871)

Example Sentences

A dissenting justice called this "utter jabberwocky."

From Salon

He remembered that, for the “Jabberwocky”-quoting third movement, “I needed something for the monster.”

From New York Times

The company also canceled an internal project code-named Jabberwocky and two other external games that were early in development.

From Seattle Times

What were these jabberwocky words arranged in this order doing here?

From New York Times

Nonwords with rhyme and meter, as in “Jabberwocky,” also are poetry.

From New York Times