as in nonsense
language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense
the idea that you can get a cold from not dressing warmly is claptrap
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in mechanical
Related Words
Dissimilar 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 claptrap
George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025
Many Red Sox fans have had it up to here with that building-for-the-future claptrap, so much so that expectations were scary low coming into the 2024 season.
—Steve Buckley, The Athletic, 31 July 2024
Mostly Rivas gets rid of distracting racist, sexist or classist claptrap in the script, annoyances that have nothing to do with its plot.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 27 Mar. 2024
That meant rolling home with bloody scrapes full of gravel past old farmhouses cheap enough for mailmen and jazz musicians to buy, build claptrap chicken coops and grow weed in the backyard.
—Daniel Duane, New York Times, 30 May 2023
See All Example Sentences for claptrap
Noun
Third, despite Trump’s claptrap, plenty of fresh delta water is being pumped south to fill fire hydrants and the tanks of firefighting aircraft.
—George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025
Many Red Sox fans have had it up to here with that building-for-the-future claptrap, so much so that expectations were scary low coming into the 2024 season.
—Steve Buckley, The Athletic, 31 July 2024
Mostly Rivas gets rid of distracting racist, sexist or classist claptrap in the script, annoyances that have nothing to do with its plot.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 27 Mar. 2024
That meant rolling home with bloody scrapes full of gravel past old farmhouses cheap enough for mailmen and jazz musicians to buy, build claptrap chicken coops and grow weed in the backyard.
—Daniel Duane, New York Times, 30 May 2023
See All Example Sentences for claptrap
Recent Examples of Synonyms for claptrap
Noun
-
Subsequent rulings expanded the assault on our electoral system, including Citizens United, which equates people to corporations — more nonsense.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
30 Jan. 2026
-
There will be times when too much time on my hands leads to nonsense, like deep character dives on Instagram regarding the wives of ex-boyfriends.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
One way engineers capture this bottleneck is through work density – the amount of mechanical energy an actuator can deliver per unit volume, expressed in kilojoules per cubic meter.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Jan. 2026
-
Things got off to an inauspicious start when Air Force One was turned back by mechanical issues.—
Dave Goldiner,
New York Daily News,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Installed on the former garbage dump bounded by Sunset, Lewis, Western and Glen Flora avenues, there are now 20,000 solar panels.—
Charles Selle,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Rescuers retrieved eight people alive and were searching for the missing still trapped after a huge mound of garbage and debris collapsed on them in the village of Binaliw in Cebu city, police said.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
9 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
His fall played as tabloid morality tale, at once confirming secular suspicion about hypocritical Christians and Christian suspicions about the temptations of secular trappings.—
Sam Kestenbaum,
Vulture,
2 Jan. 2026
-
And now, with several countries withdrawing from global governance, Jin thinks those lecturing China on being responsible are being hypocritical.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
14 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Piles of human scraps offer a bottomless buffet to wildlife, and to access that bounty, animals need to be bold enough to rummage through human rubbish but not so bold as to become a threat to people.—
Marina Wang,
Scientific American,
14 Nov. 2025
-
Helga once wrestled down a drunk fisherman in the Café, a man of above-average size, and then threw him out like a piece of rubbish; Jens thus transfers most of his weight automatically to her; who is this kid, by the way?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Is there another book at once so good and so bad, so thrilling and so boring, so authentic to the currents of the soul and so hideously contrived, so stunningly patrolled by dreamlike visions and so crushed by its own intellectual baggage?—
James Parker,
The Atlantic,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Realistic but utterly contrived videos went viral on social media after both incidents.—
Krista Kafer,
Denver Post,
25 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Morton kosher salt; process until nuts are very finely chopped, about 30 seconds.—
Jesse Szewczyk,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Granola One of the original ‘health foods,’ granola contains many nutritious ingredients, such as oats, nuts, and seeds.—
Sarah Anzlovar,
Verywell Health,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
His 2010 Cy Young victory despite a 13-12 record marked a turning point where win-loss record went from being the most important pitcher stat to one that’s borderline meaningless.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
25 Jan. 2026
-
Dismissing such conflicts as a grotesque but meaningless assemblage of scandals—the love child of Teapot Dome and Watergate—would be a mistake.—
Walter Russell Mead,
The Atlantic,
24 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Claptrap.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/claptrap. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
