buncombe
Insincere political talk
Buncombe is empty political rhetoric—speech meant to please constituents rather than address substance.
A congressman from Buncombe County, North Carolina reportedly insisted on giving a pointless speech "for Buncombe," and the name stuck.
The spelling bunkum is now more common, and the clipped form bunk even more so: That's pure bunk.
Senseless talk or writing
- hogwashFoolish or untrue talk
- poppycockFoolish or meaningless talk
- twaddleTrivial, foolish talk
- drivelSenseless, silly talk
malarkey · claptrap · blather · flapdoodle · codswallop · piffle · bosh · fiddle-faddle
Pompous, extravagant language
- pomposityExaggerated sense of importance
- blusterLoud, empty boasting
- verbosityUnnecessary word excess
- windinessState of being blustery
turgidity · prolixity · circumlocution · grandiosity · hyperbole · magniloquence · oratory · declamation
Manipulative political rhetoric
- panderingAppealing to lowest impulses
- grandstandingPerforming to impress onlookers
- speechifyingDelivering pompous addresses
- electioneeringPolitical campaign activity
stump · filibuster · populism · rhetoric · campaigning · sloganeering · politicking · posturing
Placeholder for unnamed objects
- doohickeyPlaceholder word for objects
- thingamabobUnnamed object placeholder
- whatchamacallitStand-in for forgotten names
- doodadUnnamed small object
gizmo · razzmatazz · rigmarole · flummery · mumbo-jumbo · jiggery-pokery · hullabaloo · brouhaha
balderdash
Senseless talk or writing
drivel · malarkey · claptrap · blather · flapdoodle · codswallop · piffle · bosh · fiddle-faddle · humbug
grandiloquence
Pompous, extravagant language
windiness · turgidity · prolixity · circumlocution · grandiosity · hyperbole · magniloquence · oratory · declamation · rhetoric
demagoguery
Manipulative political rhetoric
- panderingAppealing to lowest impulses
- grandstandingPerforming to impress onlookers
- speechifyingDelivering pompous addresses
electioneering · stump · filibuster · populism · rhetoric · campaigning · sloganeering · politicking · posturing · empty promises
thingamajig
Placeholder for unnamed objects
- doohickeyPlaceholder word for objects
- thingamabobUnnamed object placeholder
- whatchamacallitStand-in for forgotten names
doodad · gizmo · razzmatazz · rigmarole · flummery · mumbo-jumbo · jiggery-pokery · hullabaloo · brouhaha · kerfuffle
buncombesincerity
Honest, unfeigned genuineness
candor · honesty · truthfulness · straight talk · forthrightness
bunk, bunker, debunk, bunked, bunkhouse, bunking, bunkum, bunkmate, debunking