as in legalese
Related Words
Relevance
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 psychobabble
The overly earnest character speaks in a hilariously cringey Gen Z self-help psychobabble that continuously grates on Enrique’s nerves.
—
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2025
Sometimes, such content might be portrayed as being valid psychological science versus non-sensical psychobabble.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 11 Apr. 2025
This is the modernist quest reduced to Silicon Valley psychobabble.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2022
The show is savvy enough to sense how easily human ache can fall prey to the manipulative language of certain practitioners, and how alluring psychobabble can be, in the right context.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 19 Aug. 2021
The fetishistic horse business is merely a weird aesthetic choice that's explained away with a bit of perfunctory psychobabble.
—Katie Walsh, latimes.com, 2 May 2018
Even taking the Super Bowl hangover psychobabble into account, this looks more like a mechanical problem than a mental one — for now.
—Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 19 Oct. 2017
Such speculation makes psychobiography sound like little more than psychobabble.
—Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 2 June 2017
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2025
Sometimes, such content might be portrayed as being valid psychological science versus non-sensical psychobabble.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 11 Apr. 2025
This is the modernist quest reduced to Silicon Valley psychobabble.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2022
The show is savvy enough to sense how easily human ache can fall prey to the manipulative language of certain practitioners, and how alluring psychobabble can be, in the right context.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 19 Aug. 2021
The fetishistic horse business is merely a weird aesthetic choice that's explained away with a bit of perfunctory psychobabble.
—Katie Walsh, latimes.com, 2 May 2018
Even taking the Super Bowl hangover psychobabble into account, this looks more like a mechanical problem than a mental one — for now.
—Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 19 Oct. 2017
Such speculation makes psychobiography sound like little more than psychobabble.
—Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 2 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for psychobabble
Noun
-
Jason Bateman should start brushing up on his legalese.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
3 Oct. 2025
-
The position paper released by China's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday was part of an escalating war of words over wartime legalese that has unfolded across interested capitals in recent weeks.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Details of new initiatives were bogged down by mind-numbing bureaucratese.—
Sharon Grigsby,
Dallas News,
11 Apr. 2023
-
The most striking aspect of Putin’s failure to accept responsibility for the Kursk disaster was his retreat into bureaucratese.—
Masha Gessen,
The New Yorker,
18 Mar. 2020
Noun
-
Meaningless gobbledygook to an outsider, yet powerful to those who know how to wield those sounds properly.—
Noel Murray,
Vulture,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Bob Kring DeBary Congressional bill is full of greed The Great Big Beautiful Bill reads like 950 pages of of gobbledygook distilled into four words: Greedy, stingy, mean and short-sighted.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
2 July 2025
Noun
-
With its iconic captains, philosophical dilemmas and unforgettable alien encounters, the Trek universe is rich with lore, logic, and a whole lot of technobabble.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Some individuals’ self-destructive dependence on AI to make sense of the world through religious prophecy, sci-fi technobabble, conspiracy theories, or all of the above has led to family rifts, divorces, and gradual alienation from society itself.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
22 June 2025
Noun
-
These parables sometimes read like gibberish, talking both down and up to the reader.—
Book Marks
October 2,
Literary Hub,
2 Oct. 2025
-
And another rendered more than 5,000 files into encrypted gibberish before Malwarebytes quashed it.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
27 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Driving the news: The statement was published only in English on the Facebook page of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office — potentially another case of double-talk by Netanyahu.—
Barak Ravid,
Axios,
27 Sep. 2024
-
The GOP Senate candidate in Arizona, whose brand is a combative, never-back-down MAGA politics, has adopted a position on the issue that is nearly indistinguishable from that of double-talking Democrats.—
Rich Lowry,
National Review,
14 Apr. 2024
Noun
-
So there are all those questions and rigmarole.—
Jordan Moreau,
Variety,
24 Sep. 2025
-
No rigamarole or bureaucracy to navigate.—
Andy Meek,
Forbes.com,
31 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Psychobabble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/psychobabble. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share