Added 10 October 2026
rubbish
/ˈɹʌbɪʃ/ noun
Latin root: rebbussa Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about rubbish at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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Refuse, waste, garbage, junk, trash.
The rubbish is collected every Thursday in Gloucester, but on Wednesdays in Cheltenham.
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An item, or items, of low quality.
Much of what they sell is utter rubbish.
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Nonsense.
Everything the teacher said during that lesson was rubbish. How can she possibly think that a bass viol and a cello are the same thing?
adjective
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Exceedingly bad; awful.
This has been a rubbish day, and it’s about to get worse: my mother-in-law is coming to stay.
interjection
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Used to express that something is exceedingly bad, awful, or terrible.
- The one day I actually practice my violin, the teacher cancels the lesson.- Aw, rubbish! Though at least this means you have time to play football.
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Used to express that what was recently said is nonsense or untrue; balderdash!, nonsense!
Rubbish! I did nothing of the sort!
verb
Origin
Inherited from Middle English robous (“rubbish, building rubble”), further origin uncertain; possibly from Anglo-Norman rubous, rubouse, rubbouse (“refuse, waste material; building rubble”), and compare Anglo-Latin rebbussa, robousa, robusium, robusum, rubisum, rubusa, rubusium (although the Anglo-Norman and Anglo-Latin words may be derived from the English word instead of the other way around, as there are no known Old French cognates of the word). The English word may be related to rubble, though the connection is unclear.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)