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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in nonsense
unintelligible or meaningless talk
after some abracadabra the spiritualist announced that we had made contact with "the other side"
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of abracadabra
What could be more fun than some abracadabra and cathartic wealth redistribution?
—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
13 Nov. 2025
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
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
13 Nov. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abracadabra
Noun
-
Along the way, visitors can cast spells with a digital wand, brew potions, pot a mandrake, test their Quidditch skills and explore iconic settings like the Great Hall, Hogwarts classrooms, Hagrid's Hut and the Forbidden Forest.
-
Back like Captain America, revived and ready to go after being put on ice for a spell, needed to save the day.
Noun
-
Even Hauser can’t rescue this culturally insensitive, stereotype-perpetuating nonsense.
-
Some beer companies even make canned versions of the drink, but forget that nonsense — there is nothing better than a fresh, handmade michelada.
Noun
-
The effect, when it is sung in unison by a crowd of 80,000 people, is akin to a kind of incantation.
-
There is a bopping, rhythmic assonance to Ginsberg’s unspooling lines, more incantation than poetry.
Noun
-
The film almost completely drops any and all scientific babble from the book in favor of character development, action sequences, and emotional gut punches.
-
Read a book and sip tea in front of the central fireplace, swim between the indoor and outdoor sections of the glimmering pool, and soak your aching quads in the hot tubs under the evergreens and aspens while listening to the peaceful babble of Gore Creek.
Noun
-
Some of the prattle can feel like treading water, a delaying tactic until the inevitable confrontation scene.
-
The bizarre reality of daily life in a Southeast Asian scam compound—the tactics, the tone, the mix of cruelty and upbeat corporate prattle—is revealed at an unprecedented level of resolution in a leak of documents to WIRED from a whistleblower inside one such sprawling fraud operation.
Noun
-
Also, nowhere in that long letter of legal mumbo jumbo is there any mention of the 72% of the people who voted in favor of auditing the Legislature.
-
With its tongue way up its cheek, this zero-fat survival thriller is not bulked up with gratuitous sociological mumbo jumbo or layered with hidden meanings.
Noun
-
Some children clustered there to jabber and run madly about, while others just wanted attention and knew how to get it.
-
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.
Noun
-
With its collaborations now stretching to Japan, via Nintendo, a globalization defines Illumination — fitting given the international word salad gibberish of the Minions.
-
On Saturday Night Live, host Will Ferrell and musical guest Paul McCartney played a couple of gibberish-speaking mechanics who end up taking some naive car owners for a ride.
Cite this Entry
“Abracadabra.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abracadabra. Accessed 3 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
