Meanings
noungibberish (usually uncountable, plural gibberishes)
plural gibberishes
- uncountableusuallySpeech or writing that is unintelligible, incoherent or meaningless.
Such gibberish as children may be heard amusing themselves with.
1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 12, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC2 more examples
Could it be, after all, that the whole story was true, and the writing on the sherd was not a forgery, or the invention of some crack-brained, long-forgotten individual? And if so, could it be that Leo was the man that She was waiting for - the dead man who was to be born again! Impossible! The whole thing was gibberish! Who ever heard of a man being born again?
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLCThe Game of Thrones novels were best sellers without fleshed-out Dothraki; the languages in Star Wars, one of the most successful franchises ever, are mostly gibberish, even if Han Solo claims to understand Chewbacca’s bestial warbling.
2022 December 31, Matteo Wong, “Hollywood’s Love Affair With Fictional Languages”, in The Atlantic - uncountableusuallyNeedlessly obscure or overly technical language.
- uncountableusuallyA language game, comparable to pig Latin, in which one inserts a nonsense syllable before the first vowel in each syllable of a word.
adjectivegibberish (comparative more gibberish, superlative most gibberish)
comparative more gibberish · superlative most gibberish
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
First attested mid-16th century. Origin obscure. Possibly from *gibber, of onomatopoeic origin imitating to the sound of chatter, possibly from or influenced by jabber, + -ish denoting the name of a language (compare English, Finnish, Spanish, etc.). The verb gibber, first attested circa 1600, is usually regarded as a back-formation from gibberish.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic رَطَانَة, ثَرْثَرَة
- رَطَانَة (raṭāna)unintelligible speech or writing
- ثَرْثَرَة (ṯarṯara)needlessly obscure or overly technical language
- بَرْبَرَة (barbara)needlessly obscure or overly technical language
Bulgarian безсми́слица, техни́чески жарго́н
- безсми́слица (bezsmíslica)unintelligible speech or writing
- техни́чески жарго́н (tehníčeski žargón)needlessly obscure or overly technical language
Chinese Mandarin 亂語 /乱语, 胡言亂語 /胡言乱语
- 亂語 /乱语 (luànyǔ)unintelligible speech or writing
- 胡言亂語 /胡言乱语 (húyán luànyǔ)unintelligible speech or writing
- 胡話 /胡话 (húhuà)unintelligible speech or writing
- 亂語 /乱语 (luànyǔ)needlessly obscure or overly technical language
- 胡言亂語 /胡言乱语 (húyán luànyǔ)needlessly obscure or overly technical language
- 胡話 /胡话 (húhuà)needlessly obscure or overly technical language
Czech páté přes deváté, hatmatilka
- páté přes devátéunintelligible speech or writing
- hatmatilkaunintelligible speech or writing
- galimatyášunintelligible speech or writing
- hatmatilkaneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
- ptydepeneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
Danish vrøvl, volapyk
- vrøvlunintelligible speech or writing
- volapykunintelligible speech or writing
- kaudervælskunintelligible speech or writing
- nonsensunintelligible speech or writing
Dutch gewauwel, koeterwaals
- gewauwelunintelligible speech or writing
- koeterwaalsunintelligible speech or writing
- wartaalunintelligible speech or writing
- gebrabbelunintelligible speech or writing
- visserslatijnneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
Esperanto galimatio, volapukaĵo
- galimatiounintelligible speech or writing
- volapukaĵounintelligible speech or writing
Finnish siansaksa, heprea
- siansaksaunintelligible speech or writing
- hepreaunintelligible speech or writing
- hepreaneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
- munkkilatinaneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
French baragouin, charabia
- baragouinunintelligible speech or writing
- charabiaunintelligible speech or writing
- chinoisunintelligible speech or writing
- galimatiasunintelligible speech or writing
German Kauderwelsch, Kokolores
- Kauderwelschunintelligible speech or writing
- Kokoloresunintelligible speech or writing
- Gequasselunintelligible speech or writing
- Geschwafelunintelligible speech or writing
- Fachchinesischneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
Greek ασυναρτησίες, αλαμπουρνέζικα
- ασυναρτησίες (asynartisíes)unintelligible speech or writing
- αλαμπουρνέζικα (alampournézika)unintelligible speech or writing
- κινέζικα (kinézika)unintelligible speech or writing
Hebrew קַשְׁקֶשֶׁת f גִ׳יבְּרִישׁ
- קַשְׁקֶשֶׁת f גִ׳יבְּרִישׁ (kaškešet)unintelligible speech or writing
Hindi अनाप-शनाप, अनाप-शनाप
- अनाप-शनाप (anāp-śanāp)unintelligible speech or writing
- अनाप-शनाप (anāp-śanāp)needlessly obscure or overly technical language
Hungarian badarság, zagyvaság
- badarságunintelligible speech or writing
- zagyvaságunintelligible speech or writing
- halandzsaunintelligible speech or writing
- bikkfanyelvunintelligible speech or writing
Icelandic djöflaþýska, golfranska
- djöflaþýskaunintelligible speech or writing
- golfranskaunintelligible speech or writing
Indonesian pepesan kosong, bahasa raban
- pepesan kosongunintelligible speech or writing
- bahasa rabanunintelligible speech or writing
Irish gibiris
- gibirisunintelligible speech or writing
Italian farfuglio, borbottio
- farfugliounintelligible speech or writing
- borbottiounintelligible speech or writing
- baggianataunintelligible speech or writing
- corbelleriaunintelligible speech or writing
- ostrogotounintelligible speech or writing
- arabounintelligible speech or writing
Japanese でたらめ, 珍紛漢紛
- でたらめ (detarame)unintelligible speech or writing
- 珍紛漢紛 (chinpunkanpun)unintelligible speech or writing
- ちんぷんかんぷん (chinpunkanpun)unintelligible speech or writing
- ちんぷんかんぷん (chinpunkanpun)needlessly obscure or overly technical language
Korean 횡설수설
- 횡설수설 (hoengseolsuseol)unintelligible speech or writing
Māori kōrero hunuru, reo kihi
- kōrero hunuruunintelligible speech or writing
- reo kihiunintelligible speech or writing
- kunanuunintelligible speech or writing
Norwegian Bokmål vrøvl, vås
- vrøvlunintelligible speech or writing
- våsunintelligible speech or writing
- kaudervelskunintelligible speech or writing
- sprøytunintelligible speech or writing
- sludderunintelligible speech or writing
- greskunintelligible speech or writing
Polish jazgot, bełkot
- jazgotunintelligible speech or writing
- bełkotunintelligible speech or writing
- bajduraunintelligible speech or writing
- jazgotneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
- bełkotneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
Portuguese algaravia, grego
- algaraviaunintelligible speech or writing
- gregounintelligible speech or writing
- jargãoneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
Russian тараба́рщина, невня́тность
- тараба́рщина (tarabárščina)unintelligible speech or writing
- невня́тность (nevnjátnostʹ)unintelligible speech or writing
- белиберда́ (beliberdá)unintelligible speech or writing
- галиматья́ (galimatʹjá)unintelligible speech or writing
- абракада́бра (abrakadábra)unintelligible speech or writing
- пти́чий язы́к (ptíčij jazýk)unintelligible speech or writing
- тараба́рщина (tarabárščina)needlessly obscure or overly technical language
- белиберда́ (beliberdá)needlessly obscure or overly technical language
- бессмы́слица (bessmýslica)needlessly obscure or overly technical language
Scottish Gaelic goileam, goileam
- goileamunintelligible speech or writing
- goileamneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
Spanish algarabía, farfulla
- algarabíaunintelligible speech or writing
- farfullaunintelligible speech or writing
- monsergaunintelligible speech or writing
- guirigayunintelligible speech or writing
- galimatíasneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
- guirigayneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
Swedish nonsens, rotvälska
- nonsensunintelligible speech or writing
- rotvälskaunintelligible speech or writing
- gallimatiasunintelligible speech or writing
- grekiskaunintelligible speech or writing
- fikonspråkneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
Tagalog alimim, alim-im
- alimimunintelligible speech or writing
- alim-imunintelligible speech or writing
Turkish saçmalık, jargon
- saçmalıkunintelligible speech or writing
- jargonneedlessly obscure or overly technical language
Ukrainian тараба́рщина
- тараба́рщина (tarabárščyna)unintelligible speech or writing
Cite this entry
APA
gibberish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gibberish
MLA
“gibberish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gibberish. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gibberish,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gibberish.
Source: gibberish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.