as in nonsense
unintelligible or meaningless talk
the soothsayer's predictions were nothing but mumbo jumbo
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Recent Examples of mumbo jumbo
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
This is the familiar mumbo jumbo that Hollywood loves to attach to surfing, to highlight the metaphysical connection that surfers have to the waves, the ocean, and maybe even the cosmos.
—Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 4 Mar. 2025
Trying to decode that spirit's mystical mumbo jumbo into actionable intelligence is a key part of your effort against the Dreamscourge.
—Ars Technica, 13 Feb. 2025
Strong actors also can’t prop up a script built out of barely penetrable mumbo jumbo.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for mumbo jumbo
Frank Digiacomo, Billboard, 10 July 2025
This is the familiar mumbo jumbo that Hollywood loves to attach to surfing, to highlight the metaphysical connection that surfers have to the waves, the ocean, and maybe even the cosmos.
—Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 4 Mar. 2025
Trying to decode that spirit's mystical mumbo jumbo into actionable intelligence is a key part of your effort against the Dreamscourge.
—Ars Technica, 13 Feb. 2025
Strong actors also can’t prop up a script built out of barely penetrable mumbo jumbo.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for mumbo jumbo
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mumbo jumbo
Noun
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This conception of dance music as channeling an elevated presence of mind in an unbound flow state (or whatever) is both galaxy-brained and complete nonsense.—
Harry Tafoya,
Pitchfork,
1 May 2026
-
During the Iraq War, the popular narrative was that our heroic soldiers and marines were going in to liberate the people, free women, and topple a brutal dictator—the same nonsense we are fed now about Iran.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The film almost completely drops any and all scientific babble from the book in favor of character development, action sequences, and emotional gut punches.—
Matthew Razak,
Space.com,
23 Mar. 2026
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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.—
Sarah Kuta,
Condé Nast Traveler,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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But the games must go on, and in the third installment, he’s forced to play even more torturous rounds that divide the players further, including a terrifying game of hide-and-seek and a deadly round of double Dutch.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
29 June 2025
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Girls playing double Dutch In this picture by Wayne F. Miller, young girls play double Dutch in the snow in 1940s Chicago.—
Kayla Randall,
Smithsonian Magazine,
11 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Some of the prattle can feel like treading water, a delaying tactic until the inevitable confrontation scene.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2026
-
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.—
Andy Greenberg,
Wired News,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Much of the chatter seems to be more about the desperation to complete a first double over Liverpool in a decade.—
Chris McKenna,
New York Times,
4 May 2026
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Despite a L’Oréal sponsorship this time around, there isn’t much makeup chatter in The Devil Wears Prada 2, either—though Hathaway’s near-identical face at 43 is an aesthetic triumph.—
Faran Krentcil,
Allure,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
Some children clustered there to jabber and run madly about, while others just wanted attention and knew how to get it.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
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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
Noun
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The American League West is a Buc-ees-sized truck stop of blah, and an 81-win team could win it.—
Mac Engel
April 30,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Turn a blah brunch into a party with our famous Party Potatoes.—
Krissy Tiglias,
Southern Living,
17 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mumbo jumbo.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mumbo%20jumbo. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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