1
as in spell
a spoken word or set of words believed to have magic power
originally, an abracadabra was a cryptogram of the word "abracadabra" that was repeated in diminishing form until it disappeared entirely—supposedly just like the targeted evil or misfortune
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2
as in nonsense
unintelligible or meaningless talk
after some abracadabra the spiritualist announced that we had made contact with "the other side"
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Recent Examples of abracadabra
There is nothing to choose between them, but there was a consistency, clinical edge and an abracadabra touch that made this performance the best Alcaraz has played in a major final, barring that 2024 demolition of Novak Djokovic on Centre Court.
—
Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
That’s seven steps to make abracadabra, whose molecular assembly number is thus seven.
—Sarah Scoles, Scientific American, 13 Jan. 2023
Make the Boston Celtics vanish on abracadabra?
—Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 18 May 2022
And there’s an abracadabra quality of pulling a bed out nowhere.
—Christine Lennon, Sunset Magazine, 11 Feb. 2022
The smoke from Luka Doncic’s latest abracadabra moment still hangs in the air, along with our collective state of disbelief.
—Dallas News, 15 Apr. 2021
But Trump’s Hollywood gambits well surpass that obvious bit of abracadabra.
—Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
His utilization of terms like irreducible complexity is about as substantive as chanting abracadabra, but probably just as effective in convincing fellow travelers already sympathetic to his position as shamans were in the days of yore.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 5 Sep. 2011
Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
That’s seven steps to make abracadabra, whose molecular assembly number is thus seven.
—Sarah Scoles, Scientific American, 13 Jan. 2023
Make the Boston Celtics vanish on abracadabra?
—Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 18 May 2022
And there’s an abracadabra quality of pulling a bed out nowhere.
—Christine Lennon, Sunset Magazine, 11 Feb. 2022
The smoke from Luka Doncic’s latest abracadabra moment still hangs in the air, along with our collective state of disbelief.
—Dallas News, 15 Apr. 2021
But Trump’s Hollywood gambits well surpass that obvious bit of abracadabra.
—Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
His utilization of terms like irreducible complexity is about as substantive as chanting abracadabra, but probably just as effective in convincing fellow travelers already sympathetic to his position as shamans were in the days of yore.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 5 Sep. 2011
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abracadabra
Noun
-
Who would not raise a glass to the memory of so vexed a merrymaker, under whose spell the city is transformed into an exotic pastoral?—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
-
Wilshere retired from playing in 2022 following a spell with Danish side Aarhus.—
Luke Bosher,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Checkmate has done lots of covert ops spy nonsense in comics throughout the years, and notable works with Batman on occasion.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
11 Oct. 2025
-
The new Tron sequel steps outside of cyberspace but won’t leave the sci-fi nonsense behind.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
There’s a little bit of mystery with the spirits, incantations and rituals.—
Chris Gardner,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Aug. 2025
-
How to turn a human into a statistic, an alien, an enemy combatant–transformations worked not through incantation, but through the movement of paper in government offices.—
Celia Bell
July 22,
Literary Hub,
22 July 2025
Noun
-
Mesopotamian corpses, stirred by the babble of trade, wander the halls wrapped in shrouds of extravagant malice.—
David Velasco,
Harpers Magazine,
18 Dec. 2023
Noun
-
Trump prattles on about the economy while the actors freeze behind him in their ancient Galilee garb.—
Rosa Escandon,
Forbes.com,
13 Apr. 2025
-
She was getting winded on our walk, and her prattle was broken up by heavy breaths.—
Joshua Cohen,
The New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2024
Noun
-
Gavras presents this mystic mumbo jumbo in such a way that we are meant to question whether Joan could be right.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
14 Sep. 2025
-
But besides all the business mumbo jumbo, there is nothing like doing comedy for a live audience and getting that feedback and that energy.—
Frank DiGiacomo,
Billboard,
10 July 2025
Noun
-
And given that these are not professional actors, or even (in most cases) people who aspire to be, LaBeouf’s words to them, full of deadly serious jabber about empathy and ego, are pumped up with an intensity that feels overdone and inappropriate.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
19 May 2025
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Worse, such jabber crowds out essential coverage of genuine threats to democracy and the visions of the two parties.—
Jennifer Rubin,
Washington Post,
16 July 2024
Noun
-
These parables sometimes read like gibberish, talking both down and up to the reader.—
Book Marks
October 2,
Literary Hub,
2 Oct. 2025
-
My last thought, here, beware of the endless gibberish about the hazards of rotations.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
24 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Abracadabra.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abracadabra. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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