name
Jabberwocky
JAB-waw-kee
name
1
The title of a famous nonsense poem in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass", built almost entirely from invented words.
"She quoted the opening line of Jabberwocky: "Twas brillig, and the slithy toves...""
noun
1
Language, invented or real, that sounds meaningless or absurd.
"His technical explanation was pure jabberwocky to the rest of us."
adj
1
Nonsensical or meaningless.
"The contract was full of jabberwocky legal jargon."
How to Use Jabberwocky
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishPlayful nonsense language — named after Carroll's famous made-up-word poem.
Common pairings
pure jabberwocky
sounds like jabberwocky
Word Forms
more jabberwocky comparative, jabberwockies plural, most jabberwocky superlative
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Etymology
Coined by Lewis Carroll for his 1872 poem, named after the fictional monster "the Jabberwock", with an ending styled after classic epic titles like "the Odyssey".