gibberish

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɪb.ə.ɹɪʃ/
  • (file)

Noun[edit]

gibberish (usually uncountable, plural gibberishes)

  1. Speech or writing that is unintelligible, incoherent or meaningless.
  2. Needlessly obscure or overly technical language.
  3. (uncountable) A language game, comparable to pig Latin, in which one inserts a nonsense syllable before the first vowel in each syllable of a word.

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also[edit]

Adjective[edit]

gibberish (comparative more gibberish, superlative most gibberish)

  1. unintelligible, incoherent or meaningless

References[edit]