nothing but nonsense
1
6.0
- idiom
- Informal
- 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
523
2.5
Words or ideas that do not make sense
157
1.6
Useless or silly information, for example in unwanted emails
71
2.5
Talk or writing that is not true and not useful
70
3.1
Words or writing that have no value
44
7.5
Talk that is not true or is silly
41
7.2
Speech or writing that does not make sense
19
6.7
Nonsense talk that is not true
14
7.4
Untrue or silly talk that people should not believe
14
9.9
Talk or ideas that are untrue and not worth believing
12
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
8
9.9
Confusing speech or writing full of technical words that most people cannot understand
5
9.9
A statement that is completely untrue and makes no sense
4
5.1
Talk that has no real meaning and is not useful
3
8.9
Silly talk or ideas that are not true
2
9.9
A rude expression that says something is not true
2
9.9
A silly idea or story that is not true
1
9.9
Talk that is false and meant to fool or impress people
1
6.6
Silly talk that is not true or useful
1
4.3
Words that sound important but have no real meaning or action
1
9.9
Worthless or silly talk that has no useful ideas
1
9.9
Talk that is false and not worth listening to
1
9.9
Foolish talk or ideas that are unimportant and silly
1
9.9
Unclear, complicated ideas that are hard to understand and not practical
1
8.8
A story or idea that is untrue and silly
1
9.9
Something very silly and not true
1
9.7
Something that is completely untrue and not worth believing
Words or ideas that are complete nonsense and worthless
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
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
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'.