Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

poppycock

play
noun pop·py·cock \ˈpä-pē-ˌkäk\

Definition of poppycock

  1. :  empty talk or writing :  nonsense

See poppycock defined for English-language learners

From the M-W Editors

dope
10 English Words from Dutch
video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz
alt-59760690a61d7
Trending: Trump Tweets, We Define: 'Beleaguered'

Examples of poppycock in a Sentence

  1. That's a lot of poppycock!

  2. starting with the cherry tree, much of what was written by Washington's early biographers was pure poppycock

Origin and Etymology of poppycock

Dutch dialect pappekak, literally, soft dung, from Dutch pap pap + kak dung

poppycock Synonyms

Synonyms
applesauce [slang], balderdash, baloney (also boloney), beans, bilge, blah (also blah-blah), blarney, blather, blatherskite, blither, bosh, bull [slang], bunk, bunkum (or buncombe), claptrap, codswallop [British], crapola [slang], crock, drivel, drool, fiddle, fiddle-faddle, fiddlesticks, flannel [British], flapdoodle, folderol (also falderal), folly, foolishness, fudge, garbage, guff, hogwash, hokeypokey, hokum, hoodoo, hooey, horsefeathers [slang], humbug, humbuggery, jazz, malarkey (also malarky), moonshine, muck, nerts [slang], nuts, piffle, nonsense, punk, rot, rubbish, senselessness, silliness, slush, stupidity, taradiddle (or tarradiddle), tommyrot, tosh, trash, trumpery, twaddle
Related Words
absurdity, asininity, fatuity, foolery, idiocy, imbecility, inaneness, inanity, insanity, kookiness, lunacy; absurdness, craziness, madness, senselessness, witlessness; hoity-toity, monkey business, monkeyshine (s), shenanigan (s), tomfoolery; gas, hot air, rigmarole (also rigamarole); double-talk, greek, hocus-pocus
Near Antonyms
levelheadedness, rationality, reasonability, reasonableness, sensibleness; common sense, horse sense, sense; discernment, judgment (or judgement), wisdom

POPPYCOCK Defined for English Language Learners

poppycock

play
noun

Definition of poppycock for English Language Learners

  • : foolish words or ideas

Learn More about poppycock

  1. See words that rhyme with poppycock Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for poppycock

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up poppycock? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

wreak

play

to bring about or cause (something)

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. beleaguer 'Being subjected to constant or repeated trouble or harassment'

  2. scaramouch A new White House communications director

  3. non sequitur “It does not follow”

  4. admiral's mast A massive search ends with an 'admiral's mast'.

  5. calumny 'An untrue statement that is made to damage someone's reputation'

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

poppycock

Test Your Vocabulary

The Emoji Quiz

  • emoji-the-quiz
  • What phase of the moon is this: 🌖 ?
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ
Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-596f95fe451e7
'Drought' & 'Drouth' Take Us Back In Time

A variant spelling with a long history

alt-59721dd897313
The 'Best' Way to Sign Off On An E-mail

Give them your best

image386126722
Words and Phrases That Come from the Dinner Table

Fill your plate with these surprising food words

ghost-being-disinvited-from-party
'Disinvite' or 'Uninvite'?

A disinvited guest is an uninvited problem

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

Take the quiz
image941935269
A Game of Thrones Word Quiz

In the Game of Thrones quiz, you learn some new vocabulary. (It’s quite safe, really. You will not die.)

Take the quiz
Name That Thing
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

Take the quiz
Word Winder's CrossWinder
Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game
Examples: poppycock in a Sentence