nonsense word
Made-up vocabulary item
A nonsense word is a made-up word with no established meaning, created for whimsy, testing, or linguistic demonstration.
Brillig and slithy from Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" are famous examples.
Linguists use nonsense words like wug to study how children learn grammatical rules.
Also called a nonce word or pseudoword.
- protologismProposed new word
- pseudowordMeaningless but pronounceable letter string
- jabberwockyNonsensical invented language
- galumphWalk heavily and clumsily
- bunkumInsincere or foolish talk
Lewis Carroll · mimsy · slithy · chortle · blah · mumbo-jumbo · vorpal · gobbledygook · balderdash · gibberish · twaddle · snark · brillig · absurd · baby talk · irrational · snuzzle · unreasonable