claptrap
Showy empty talk
Claptrap is pretentious, empty talk designed to win approval rather than convey meaning—the verbal equivalent of applause-seeking theatrics.
Politicians are frequent offenders: The speech was pure claptrap about family values.
The word suggests not just nonsense but calculated nonsense, language meant to impress rather than inform.
Senseless talk or writing
- hogwashFoolish or untrue talk
- drivelSenseless, silly talk
- gibberishUnintelligible speech or writing
- twaddleTrivial, foolish talk
poppycock · flapdoodle · malarkey · baloney · blather · bunkum · codswallop · moonshine
Affectedly grand in manner
- blusterLoud, empty boasting
- braggadocioVain, empty self-promotion
- windbagOne who prattles endlessly
- grandiloquencePompous, extravagant language
turgid · inflated · declamation · ranting · grandiosity · rodomontade · guff · fustian
Showy worthless articles
- knickknackSmall decorative object
- doodadUnnamed small object
- thingamabobUnnamed object placeholder
- gewgawCheap showy ornament
trinket · frippery · bauble · tchotchke · bric-a-brac · trumpery · trifle · novelty
Manipulative political rhetoric
- sophistryDeceptive reasoning
- spinRapid rotation around axis
- rhetoricArt of persuasive language
- sloganeeringReliance on pithy phrases
doublespeak · cant · platitudes · talking-points · soundbites · agitprop · disinformation · manipulation
balderdash
Senseless talk or writing
twaddle · poppycock · flapdoodle · malarkey · baloney · blather · bunkum · codswallop · moonshine · piffle
pompous
Affectedly grand in manner
- blusterLoud, empty boasting
- braggadocioVain, empty self-promotion
- windbagOne who prattles endlessly
grandiloquence · turgid · inflated · declamation · ranting · grandiosity · rodomontade · guff · fustian · highfalutin
gimcrackery
Showy worthless articles
- knickknackSmall decorative object
- doodadUnnamed small object
- thingamabobUnnamed object placeholder
gewgaw · trinket · frippery · bauble · tchotchke · bric-a-brac · trumpery · trifle · novelty
demagoguery
Manipulative political rhetoric
sloganeering · doublespeak · cant · platitudes · talking-points · soundbites · agitprop · disinformation · manipulation · politicking
- blatherbabble, balderdash, baloney, blarney, blather
- nonsensenonsense, absurd, gibberish, gobbledegook, gobbledygook
- retro slanggroovy, far out, the bee's knees, neato, cool cat
- Whimsy Wordsgobbledygook, gibberish, mumbo jumbo, hogwash, balderdash
- Bunkbalderdash, baloney, bosh, bunk, bunkum
- British slangblag, bloke, bodge, blagger, bobby
claptrapsense
Perception or judgment
wisdom · truth · substance · rationality · reasonableness
claptrapsincerity
Honest, unfeigned genuineness
authenticity · straight talk · plain truth · candor · honesty