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gibberish

B2 Topic:Communication
US /ˈd͡ʒɪ.bə.ɹɪʃ/ UK /ˈdʒɪbərɪʃ/
Freq #10466

Meanings

  1. 1
  2. 2

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · speech or writing that is... nonsensebabble
2 noun · language dismissed as... jargongobbledygook
Opposites
senseclarityplain language
Word family
Derived forms gibberishlikegibberishy
Related forms gibberjabberjargon

Etymology

Attested from the mid-16th century, but its origin is uncertain. It may imitate rapid, unintelligible chatter and may have been influenced by jabber; the ending -ish makes it sound like the name of a language. The verb gibber may be a later back-formation.

Topics

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