gobbledygook
Pompous official nonsense
Gobbledygook is language so full of jargon, technical terms, or convoluted phrasing that it's practically meaningless to ordinary readers.
Government documents, legal contracts, and corporate memos are frequent offenders: The memo was pure gobbledygook—nobody understood what we were supposed to do.
The word itself mimics the sound of a turkey's gobble, suggesting noise without sense.
Attorneys' technical jargon
- bureaucrateseWordy governmental language
- technobabbleFake scientific-sounding nonsense
- doublespeakDeliberately misleading language
- buzzwordsTrendy technical jargon
officialese · corporatespeak · acronyms · boilerplate · obfuscation · doubletalk · newspeak · medicalese
Unintelligible speech or writing
- mumbo-jumboMeaningless or confusing language
- balderdashSenseless talk or writing
- hogwashFoolish or untrue talk
- drivelSenseless, silly talk
poppycock · claptrap · bunkum · twaddle · piffle · baloney · codswallop · tommyrot
Trivial, prolonged speech
- jabberTalk rapidly, incoherently
- blatherFoolish, pointless chatter
- rambleMove or speak without direction
- gabbleRapid, muddled talk
gibber · burble · maunder · blabber · yammer · natter · patter · waffle
Impossible to understand
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- impenetrableImpossible to pass through
- opaqueImpassable to light
- crypticObscure in meaning
abstruse · inscrutable · bewildering · perplexing · dense · indecipherable · unfathomable · arcane
legalese
Attorneys' technical jargon
- bureaucrateseWordy governmental language
- technobabbleFake scientific-sounding nonsense
- doublespeakDeliberately misleading language
buzzwords · officialese · corporatespeak · acronyms · boilerplate · obfuscation · doubletalk · newspeak · medicalese · verbiage
gibberish
Unintelligible speech or writing
- mumbo-jumboMeaningless or confusing language
- balderdashSenseless talk or writing
- hogwashFoolish or untrue talk
drivel · poppycock · claptrap · bunkum · twaddle · piffle · baloney · codswallop · tommyrot · bosh
prattle
Trivial, prolonged speech
- jabberTalk rapidly, incoherently
- blatherFoolish, pointless chatter
- rambleMove or speak without direction
gabble · gibber · burble · maunder · blabber · yammer · natter · patter · waffle · droning
unintelligible
Impossible to understand
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- impenetrableImpossible to pass through
- opaqueImpassable to light
cryptic · abstruse · inscrutable · bewildering · perplexing · dense · indecipherable · unfathomable · arcane · esoteric
- blatherbabble, balderdash, baloney, blarney, blather
- Coined Wordschortle, galumph, nerd, robot, quark
- confusionconfusion, confused, bewilderment, perplexity, baffled
- empty talkidle talk, hot air, idle chatter, drivel, babble
- gibberishgibberish, nonsense, babble, babbling, drivel
- nonsensenonsense, absurd, gibberish, ridiculous, illogical
gobbledygookplain English
Unadorned, accessible wording
plain speech · plain language · clarity · clear writing · lucidity