nothingburger

or noth·ing bur·ger

[ nuhth-ing-bur-ger ]

noun

, Slang

1. an often highly publicized event or situation that is said to have less impact or significance than expected:

   The meeting of world leaders turned out to be a big nothingburger.

2. a person of little or no importance; a nothing; a nobody:

   She's a minor celebrity—a nothingburger.

Word History and Origins

Origin of nothingburger¹

First recorded in 1950–55; nothing ( def ) + burger ( def )

Example Sentences

“There’s a narrative out there that the pandemic is over, that it’s a nothingburger,” Al-Aly said.

From Los Angeles Times

"Ultimately, at the end of the day yesterday, it was just a big nothingburger," she said.

From Salon

“This was a nothingburger you will forget,” he said of that debate.

From Seattle Times

“For all of the sort of noisemaking and fearmongering that was associated with the opening of that facility, it has been a complete nothingburger,” Davis said.

From Seattle Times

But Sensity AI only found 35 images of politicians, and 2020’s election-deepfake scare turned into a nothingburger.

From Salon