Meanings
malarky1
plural malarkies
- alternativecountableuncountableAlternative spelling of malarkey.
There's mischiefs and malarkies / But no queers, or yids, or darkies. / Within this bastard's carnival, / This vicious cabaret!
1983 August, Alan Moore; David Lloyd, illustrator, “V for Vendetta: This Vicious Cabaret”, in Dez Skinn, editor, Warrior, number 12, London: Quality Communications, →OCLC, pages 92–93; quoted in Lance Parkin, Magic Words: The Extraordinary Life of Alan Moore, London: Aurum Press, 2013, →ISBN, page 1962 more examples
'Smuggling,' she said. 'has a fine romantic ring about it—once aboard the lugger, you heave ho and all that kind of malarky. [...]'
1968, Margery Allingham, “The String Man”, in Cargo of Eagles, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC; republished London: Vintage, 2016, →ISBN, page 91A company that makes a fetish of never exceeding the budget invites game-playing and other malarky. It is easy to forget the obvious: that it involves no skill to come in on time and under budget if the schedule and budget are generous enough.
1993, Richard Barry, “Budgeting”, in The Management of International Oil Operations, Tulsa, Ok.: PennWell Books, →ISBN, page 331
Malarky2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounempty rhetoric or insincere or exaggerated talk
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Variant of Mullarkey.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
malarky. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malarky
“malarky.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malarky. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “malarky,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malarky.
Source: malarky on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.