Skip to the word

Added 7 October 2026

nonsense

/ˈnɒn.səns/ noun

In Latin: nūgae, gerrae Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about nonsense at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A message that seems to convey no meaning.
Ornamental objects of no great value.

adjective

Having no intelligible meaning.
nonsense syllables

Origin

From non- (“no, none, lack of”) + sense, from c. 1610. Compare the semantically similar West Frisian ûnsin (“nonsense”), Dutch onzin (“nonsense”), German Unsinn (“nonsense”), English unsense (“nonsense”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word