nonsense word

noun

A neologised word that does not have a given meaning, or that has been invented without any etymological sense.

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Meanings

nounnonsense word (plural nonsense words)

plural nonsense words

  1. A neologised word that does not have a given meaning, or that has been invented without any etymological sense.

    George Bernard Shaw's classic joke about English spelling is that his nonsense word ghoti should be pronounced fish. He explained: gh = like the gh in cough = fo = like the o in women = i ti = like the ti in nation = sh ghoti = fish.

    1983, Michael E. Adelstein, Wendell Keats Sparrow, Business communications

Origin

From nonsense + word.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish pseudosana
  • pseudosanatype of word
Polish nonsensowne słowo
  • nonsensowne słowotype of word
Russian бессмысленное слово
  • бессмысленное слово (bessmyslennoje slovo)type of word
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: nonsense word on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.