bullshit

alternative bullshite · alternative boulechite

1. literallyuncountablevulgarFeces produced by a bull.

   Near-synonyms: cowshit, cowpie

   1 more example

   Oh, I get it! So it's not a pyramid, it's just pyramid-shaped. You know, like a Dorito, or an Angry Bird, or just a pile of bullshit.

   2016 November 6, “Multilevel Marketing”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 29, John Oliver (actor), via HBO

   Synonyms: cowshit, cowpie

2. Any assertions or information that are either false or misleading.
   1. slanguncountablevulgarusual senseStatements that are false or exaggerated to impress or cheat the listener.

      He wrote loads of bullshit in the science exam.

      4 more examples

      Don't pay any attention to him. He talks a lot of bullshit.

      Christ, we’ve done well, we’ve lost every battle so far, so we have to hold on to Tobruk and claim it as a victory or something. It’s all bullshit. Tobruk’s not worth a light.

      1917, Ray Rigby, Jacksons War, W.H. Allen, published 1967, page 88

      The Illusive Man: Shepard. You're making a habit of costing me more than time and money. Shepard: I'm sorry, I'm having trouble hearing you. I'm getting a lot of bullshit on this line.

      2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC

      “Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker,” Trump wrote in a missive on Truth Social. “They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years.”

      2025 July 16, Kevin Liptak and Sarah Ferris, “Trump lashes out at ‘weaklings’ who believe Epstein ‘bullsh*t’ amid building GOP pressure to release documents”, in CNN

      Synonyms: BS, horseshit, absurdity, all my eye, all my eye and Betty Martin, apple grease, applesauce, bafflegab

   2. slanguncountablevulgarStatements that are transparently or offensively false.

      That's total bullshit! I called your office and they said that you didn't come in!

      1 more example

      Fucking load of bullshit! You smashed his skull and dropped the F-bomb at him, and now you're claiming that he assaulted you?!

      Synonyms: BS, horseshit, falsedom, falsehood, falsity, falseness, terminological inexactitude, untruth

   3. rhetoricuncountableStatements that are intentionally misleading, whether true or not.

      Synonyms: BS, horseshit

   4. uncountablehuman sciencesStatements made without regard for their truth value.First known use 1980s

      Respect for the truth and a concern for the truth are among the foundations for civilization. I was for a long time disturbed by the lack of respect for the truth that I observed... bullshit is one of the deformities of these values.

      2005, Harry Frankfurt, On Bullshit

      1 more example

      I focus on unclarifiable unclarity in particular in preparation for a further inquiry into bullshit that addresses the question why so much of that particular kind of bullshit is produced in France. This kind of academic bullshit […] comes close to being celebrated for its very unclarity by some of its producers and consumers.

      2002, G.A. Cohen, “Deeper into bullshit”, in Sarah Buss, Lee Overton, editors, Contours of Agency: Essays on Themes from Harry Frankfurt, page 333

      Synonyms: BS, horseshit, nonsense, absurdity, all my eye, all my eye and Betty Martin, apple grease, applesauce

3. slanguncountablevulgarSynonym of shit (any stuff, especially when viewed negatively or with collegial vulgarity).

   These rules cover how to do your laundry, how to fold your shirts, how to shine your shoes... You know, all that bullshit.

   2 more examples

   And when I rolled with the punches I got knocked on the ground By all this bullshit going down

   1975, “Fight the Power (Part 1 & 2)”, in The Heat Is On, performed by The Isley Brothers

   We’ve been settling for half-assed bullshit for too long.

   2017 December 1, Tom Breihan, “Mad Max: Fury Road might already be the best action movie ever made”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2022

   Synonyms: shit

4. possiblyuncountablevulgarcard gamesA card game in which players try to discard their hands first, following rules that encourage bluffing, calling others' bluffs, and penalizing others by tricking them into inaccurate accusations.

   Anyone want to play a few hands of bullshit?

   2 more examples

   In PM parlance, what I did in this story was call bullshit. This is in reference to the card game Bullshit, where you win if you get rid of all the cards in your hand. […] So, if at any time a another player thinks the first player is lying, she can “call bullshit”

   2005, Scott Berkun, The Art of Project Management, page 260

   The kids were surprisingly into Scrabble at the moment. It made a change from their last obsession with the card game Bullshit.

   2017, Katey Lovell, Joe and Clara's Christmas Countdown, page 121

   Synonyms: cheat, I doubt it, banana split

comparative more bullshit · superlative most bullshit · alternative bullshite · alternative boulechite

1. slangvulgarAbsurd, irrational, or nonsensical (most often said of speech, information, or content).

   a bullshit job

   1 more example

   That’s the most bullshit excuse I’ve ever heard.

present singular third person bullshits · participle present bullshitting · participle past bullshitted · past bullshitted · participle past rare bullshat · past rare bullshat · alternative bullshite · alternative boulechite

1. ambitransitiveslangvulgarTo tell lies, exaggerate; to mislead; to deceive.

   You’re bullshitting me. I called your office and you never even came in.

   3 more examples

   I think you’re bullshitting. Let’s just call your office and see if you even came in.

   He said, “I might as well give it to you straight; you don’t want me bullshitting around with you.” I said, “Nope.”

   1982, Stanley Goff, Robert Sanders, Clark Smith, Brothers, black soldiers in the Nam, page 32

   She had told me that he had tried something with her before. Someone else had to fight him off her and she got away and I wasn't sure if I believed it cuz, I don't know, she's bullshitted me a few times

   2004, Supreme Court of the United States, quoting Michael Crawford, Crawford v. Washington, 541 US 36

2. intransitiveslangvulgarTo have casual conversation with no real point; to shoot the breeze.

   I will probably just go and bullshit with Joe for a while.

   3 more examples

   His eyelids flickered. “No. No one special here, just Octavia, Rosemary, Mark, Andy and Jim. Spent most of the time bullshitting with Jim.”

   1968, Gavin Lambert, A Case for the Angels, page 70

   The lute player would often wander by while these artists bullshat about the wonders of the abstract style. He was fascinated by their word games and mental crap about abstraction.

   1987, Sidney Lawrence, Roger Brown, Roger Brown, exhibition catalog, page 84

   As Franco and the squad leader bullshitted while drinking their beers, they suddenly heard a close heavy thump hit the ground nearby, right away hearing Hicks and the other guy break out in laughter!

   2002, George Bielma, A Gathering of Eagles, page 21

3. intransitiveslangvulgarTo come up with on the spot; to improvise.

   We just went on stage and bullshitted the whole concert because we didn’t know any songs.

   Synonyms: crap

4. intransitiveslangvulgarTo act in a way considered bullshit.

alternative bullshite · alternative boulechite

1. slangvulgarAn expression of disbelief at what one has just heard.

   Synonyms: applesauce, bender, bollocks, bosh, bugger off, bullcrap, bullcrud, bullfuck