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jabberwocky

noun
jab·​ber·​wocky | \ ˈja-bÉ™r-ËŒwä-kÄ“ How to pronounce jabberwocky (audio) \

Definition of jabberwocky

: meaningless speech or writing
Synonyms Did You Know? Example Sentences Learn More about jabberwocky

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Did You Know?

In a poem titled Jabberwocky in the book Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1872), Lewis Carroll warned his readers about a frightful beast: Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch! This nonsensical poem caught the public's fancy, and by 1902 jabberwocky was being used as a generic term for meaningless speech or writing. The word bandersnatch has also seen some use as a general noun, with the meaning "a wildly grotesque or bizarre individual." It's a much rarer word than jabberwocky, though, and is entered only in our unabridged dictionary, Webster’s Third New International."

Examples of jabberwocky in a Sentence

when he gets angry, he talks in a sort of agitated jabberwocky that is really quite comical

First Known Use of jabberwocky

1902, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for jabberwocky

Jabberwocky, nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll

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More from Merriam-Webster on jabberwocky

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with jabberwocky

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for jabberwocky

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