Gish gallop

noun

A rhetorical technique in which a dishonest speaker lists a string of falsehoods or misleading items so that their opponent will be unable to counter each one and still be able to make their own counterpoints.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounGish gallop (plural Gish gallops)

plural Gish gallops

  1. A rhetorical technique in which a dishonest speaker lists a string of falsehoods or misleading items so that their opponent will be unable to counter each one and still be able to make their own counterpoints.

Origin

Coined by American physical anthropologist Eugenie C. Scott in 1994, referencing a rhetorical strategy often employed by creationist Duane Gish in debates about evolution.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Gish gallop. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gish%20gallop

MLA

“Gish gallop.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gish%20gallop. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Gish gallop,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gish%20gallop.

Source: Gish gallop on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.