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Definition of gobbledygook

gobbledygook

/ˈɡɑː.bəl.di.ɡʊk/
(UK: gobbledegook)
gob · ble · dy · gook
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gobbledygook Lexical Profile

gobbledygook Game Scores & Validity

• noun

1

Language that is meaningless or is made unintelligible by excessive use of abstruse technical terms or bureaucratic jargon.

Example

"The legal contract was so full of bureaucratic gobbledygook that we had to hire a lawyer to translate it into plain English."

Synonyms
View all synonyms for gobbledygook
Antonyms
View all antonyms for gobbledygook

• Nearby Words

goatskin
gob
gobble
gobbledygook
gobbler
gobi
goblet

Word Origin & Etymology

Coined in 1944 by Maury Maverick, a former U.S. Congressman from Texas, in a memo criticizing pretentious bureaucratic language, with the word formed as an onomatopoeia imitating the gobbling sound of a turkey.

Usage Trend

Historical frequency of usage in published text.

180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer

Cite this Entry

Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Gobbledygook. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Nov 5, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/gobbledygook
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