nothing but nonsense
1
6.0
- idiom
- Informal
:
nada más que tonterías
- Early in the morning he came back, shaking and thin-lipped, repeating over and over that he was going to prove to them their winds were nothing but nonsense.
Examples
-
See nothing but nonsense or BSNBC, convinced they are unbiased.
Blog text (14) -
The report was filled with nothing but nonsense that confused everyone.
-
When I heard his explanation, I realized it was nothing but nonsense.
-
Her claims about the incident were dismissed as nothing but nonsense.
Synonyms
∞
9.9
Something worthless or untrue that people say to you
∞
8.5
Words that are false or useless
578
2.5
Words or ideas that do not make sense
246
1.6
Useless or silly information, for example in unwanted emails
102
3.1
Words or writing that have no value
49
2.5
Talk or writing that is not true and not useful
48
7.5
Talk that is not true or is silly
45
7.2
Speech or writing that does not make sense
22
6.7
Nonsense talk that is not true
16
7.4
Untrue or silly talk that people should not believe
13
8.8
Talk that is not true and tries to trick people
11
8.4
Talk that is foolish and has little meaning
10
9.9
Silly talk that is not true
9
8.4
Silly or untrue talk that is not serious
9
9.9
Confusing speech or writing full of technical words that most people cannot understand
3
8.9
Silly talk or ideas that are not true
3
9.9
A statement that is completely untrue and makes no sense
3
9.9
A silly idea or story that is not true
3
5.1
Talk that has no real meaning and is not useful
2
9.9
A rude expression that says something is not true
1
9.9
Talk that is false and meant to fool or impress people
1
9.9
Talk or ideas that are untrue and not worth believing
1
6.6
Silly talk that is not true or useful
1
9.9
Worthless or silly talk that has no useful ideas
1
9.9
Foolish talk or ideas that are unimportant and silly
1
9.9
Talk that is false and not worth listening to
1
4.3
Words that sound important but have no real meaning or action
Words or ideas that are complete nonsense and worthless
Something that is completely untrue and not worth believing
A false statement said on purpose to trick people
Talk that is false and hard to believe
Complete nonsense that is not true and not believable
False talk meant to trick people
Complete nonsense that is not true
A large amount of nonsense that is clearly untrue
Something very silly and not true
A story or idea that is untrue and silly
Complete nonsense that has no true facts to support it
Talk that is false and makes no sense
Words that are not true and have no value
Unclear, complicated ideas that are hard to understand and not practical
Antonyms
How Nonsensical
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'completely untrue or worthless' is directly derivable from combining 'nothing' (no thing) with 'but' (only) and 'nonsense' — i.e. 'only nonsense'. The 'nothing but X' construction is a common, compositional pattern in English (and has direct equivalents in many other languages), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Nothing but nonsense paints a simple picture: there is nothing in it but nonsense, meaning only silly or useless words. So, it is used to say something is only 'silly', 'worthless', or 'not true'.