claptrap
empty or meaningless talking
TRANSLATION
Effekthascherei, Gequassel, Geschwätz, Gewäsch
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"That is what great art should be," Saatchi said. "Something that gives you real visual pleasure and makes you sit up and think, not the pseudo-controversial CLAPTRAP that Turner judges actually believe is cutting-edge art."
BBC News
BBC News
Did you
know?
claptrap
noun
- pretentious but insincere or empty language
- any artifice or expedient for winning applause or impressing the public.
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ORIGIN
Originally claptrap really was "a trick or device designed to attract or catch applause" – to literally trap the claps - it started life as theatrical jargon and goes back to the early 18th century.
Today the word claptrap means "empty talk, or an insincere remark, idle meaningless chatter, often positively incorrect or misinformed" as in the phrase "what a load of claptrap".
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SYNONYMS
sham, humbug, hokum, nonsense, bunk
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THANK YOU
to Florian for suggesting today's word.
noun
- pretentious but insincere or empty language
- any artifice or expedient for winning applause or impressing the public.
---
ORIGIN
Originally claptrap really was "a trick or device designed to attract or catch applause" – to literally trap the claps - it started life as theatrical jargon and goes back to the early 18th century.
Today the word claptrap means "empty talk, or an insincere remark, idle meaningless chatter, often positively incorrect or misinformed" as in the phrase "what a load of claptrap".
---
SYNONYMS
sham, humbug, hokum, nonsense, bunk
---
THANK YOU
to Florian for suggesting today's word.
