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zilch

zilch

15 8.5
Nothing at all
  • noun
  • /zɪltʃ/
  • Informal
: cero
  • These people think they're lucky to get hired as adjunct faculty at minimum pay with zilch benefits.
  • zilch and nada
  • zilch and zero
  • zilch and zip

Examples

  • When you get to the fifth year, the chance of recurrence is basically zilch!

    Blog text (21)
  • He's gone from being obsessed to absolutely zilch, and I can't put my finger on it.

  • It's yours for asking, and it will cost you zilch except your email address.

    Blog text (17)
  • Now he has zilch, plus a truck.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Five new establishments have been purchased, so you can say the impact of the Free Trade Agreement on our business has been zilch.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Our Prime Minister has done absolutely zilch about this issue.

  • It's yours for asking, and it will cost you zilch except your email address.

  • If I die, the money goes to a charitable trust and he gets zilch.

Synonyms

nothing
vszilch
∞ 1.0

Not anything of interest or value

is the informal, stronger way to emphasise total absence
none
vszilch
∞ 1.0

Not any of a group of people or things

is more emphatic and informal about complete lack
nothin
vszilch
  • Informal
701 9.9

Not anything or zero

is the standard informal emphatic form rather than dialectal spelling
zero
vszilch
465 1.0

Having no amount or value

is the informal emphatic expression rather than a numeric term
squat
vszilch
  • Slang
51 8.1

An amount that is nothing

focuses on utter absence without the negative phrasing
nada
vszilch
  • Informal
46 9.4

Nothing at all

is the informal emphatic English version rather than a loanword
naught
vszilch
  • Archaic
30 8.3

The state of having no value, result, or importance

is the current informal emphatic expression rather than archaic
zip
vszilch
  • Slang
28 8.1

Nothing at all often used informally to mean zero

is an informal emphatic way to stress complete absence
nil
vszilch
  • UK
25 5.1

No amount or value, meaning nothing at all

is informal and used to stress absence rather than record values
goose egg
vszilch
  • Informal
9 8.1

A score or total of zero

is used more generally to stress complete absence beyond scores
aught
vszilch
  • Archaic
9 9.9

Nothing of value or importance

is the more modern informal way to stress absence
nowt
vszilch
  • UK
7 9.9

Not anything at all

is the informal emphatic form used more generally than dialectal
not an ounce of
vszilch
  • Informal
6 4.9

There is not even a tiny bit of something

is a short informal exclamation that stresses total absence
zippo
vszilch
  • Archaic
5 9.9

Nothing at all

is similarly informal but broadly used for emphasis
diddley
vszilch
  • Informal
2 9.9

A very small amount, almost nothing

stresses absolute absence rather than mere insignificance

Antonyms

∞ 1.0

An unknown object or idea that is not named

∞ 1.0

All the things or all that someone has

How Much

a lot
∞ 1.0
some
∞ 1.0
a little
∞ 1.0
zilch
  • Informal
15 8.5

Surface Forms

zilch singular
zilches plural

Etymology

Zilch is American slang that means 'nothing' or 'zero'. A helpful way to remember it is to feel the short, sharp sound of the word, like a quick 'zip' that leaves you with nothing, so zilch means 'nothing at all'.