word salad

noun

1

psychology : unintelligible, extremely disorganized speech or writing manifested as a symptom of a mental disorder (such as schizophrenia)

Damage to Wernicke's area can result in the loss of semantic associations … . Trying to speak results in garbled, nonsensical juxtapositions that neuroscientists call "word salad".

—Duncan Graham-Rowe

2

: a string of empty, incoherent, unintelligible, or nonsensical words or comments

In the moments when the debate wasn't in circus form it seemed very conventional and very one-sided, with one candidate who could give complete, coherent and informed answers about issues and the other who specialized in word salad.

—Robert Schlesinger

… composed an essay that was a word salad of solemn academic jargon.

—George Will

Examples of word salad in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

If only the same attention were paid to Trump’s word salad dumps or meaningful comparisons were made by the media between the two men and their relationship with the truth. —Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2024

This word salad offers something for everyone but is devoid of specificity and cannot serve as a basis for a coherent policy. —Andrew J. Bacevich, Foreign Affairs, 28 Feb. 2023

But Flynn recited this prophetic word salad with the delivery of one’s least-favorite uncle plodding through an ill-prepared wedding toast. —Emily Harnett, Harper's Magazine, 26 Apr. 2024

Sheila, spouting a bunch of authoritative-sounding word salad. —Sarah Lyall, New York Times, 8 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1904, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

word salad

noun

word sal·​ad -ˌsal-əd 

: a jumble of extremely incoherent speech as sometimes observed in schizophrenia