nonsense
noun · verb · adjective
Simple meaning
A message that seems to convey no meaning.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nahnsensSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnɑnsɛns
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A message that seems to convey no meaning
Letters or words, in writing or speech, that have no meaning or pattern or seem to have no meaning.
That which is silly, illogical and lacks any meaning, reason or value; that which does not make sense.
An untrue statement.
Something foolish.
verb
To attempt to dismiss as nonsense; to ignore or belittle the significance of something; to render unimportant or puny.
intransitive
To joke around, to waste time
To make nonsense of
adjective
Nonsensical.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A message that seems to convey no meaning
Used this way, nonsense is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use nonsense
- “That idea is complete nonsense; it makes no logical sense at all.”
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Nonsensical writing (usually verse).
Senseless talk.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: message that seems to convey no meaning
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Keep learning “nonsense” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.
- Practice sentence writingWrite sentences with vocabulary and get instant feedback.
- Practice in contextAnswer short vocabulary questions drawn from real situations.
- Review vocabularyTest your recall and strengthen words over time.
- Practice typingType vocabulary from meanings, examples and other prompts.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.