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Glite Dictionary
🙄 Nonsense! 🙄 Foolish talk
horsefeathers

horsefeathers

9.9
Silly talk that is not true
  • noun
  • /ˈhɔrsˌfɛðərz/
  • Archaic
: tonterías
  • The politician's promises turned out to be pure horsefeathers, making voters skeptical.

Examples

  • Chief Horsefeathers, we called him, and all the boys teased Chief but never the tattered man.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • When he suggested that the earth is flat, I responded, "That's just horsefeathers!"

  • She dismissed his outrageous theories as nothing more than horsefeathers.

Synonyms

horseshit
vshorsefeathers
  • Offensive
45 9.9

Things people say or do that are false and rude

is a nonvulgar word for foolish untrue talk not broad misconduct
horse hockey
vshorsefeathers
  • Archaic
1 9.9

Silly talk or behavior that is not true and should be ignored

is a general term for silly untrue talk rather than a dismissive remark
horse pucky
vshorsefeathers
  • Archaic
1 9.9

Talk that is not true or is silly

is the standard term for nonsense without informal slang
horse manure
vshorsefeathers
  • Informal
1 4.3

A rude informal phrase meaning nonsense or something untrue

is only the figurative term for foolish untrue talk rather than a physical thing
rocking horse shit
vshorsefeathers
  • Offensive
9.9

Something very silly and not true

is milder meaning general foolish talk rather than total falsehood

Antonyms

fact
∞ 1.0

Something that can be shown to be true, not an opinion

truth
∞ 1.0

A fact that shows how things really are

How Absurd

hogwash
  • Informal
16 7.4
horsefeathers
  • Archaic
9.9
nonsense
578 2.5
rubbish
  • UK
49 2.5

Surface Forms

horsefeather singular
horsefeathers plural

Morphology

horsefeathers = horse + feather (opaque) = horse + feather + s

The noun is formed as a playful compound meaning 'nonsense'; its sense is idiomatic and not derivable from the literal components.

Etymology

The word horsefeathers as a noun means 'nonsense' and comes from a joking image of horse with feathers, which feels absurd and useless. A helpful way to remember it is to think of that silly picture, because that is why the word labels ideas or talk that are 'not true'.