Standard Lemma guide

bollocks

intj · noun · verb · 10 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈbɒ.ləks/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒləks
  • CMU ARPABET: B AO1 L AO0 K S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

intj

Meaning 1

An expression of anger, frustration, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, transitive, vulgar

Examples

  • Oh bollocks, I'm late for work!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

intj

Meaning 2

An expression of incredulity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, transitive, vulgar

Examples

  • Bollocks! That never happened!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The testicles.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, plural, plural-normally, vulgar

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: testicles, testes, acorns, agates, apples, apricots, bags, ballocks, balls, bangers, bannocks, baws, beans, bean bags, berries, bollocks, bolls, boys, bubbles, cherries, chicken nuggets, chuckles, clockweights, cobblers, cods, coin purse, cojones, crown jewels, cubes, cullions, eggs, family jewels, giggle berries, gonads, goolies, gooseberries, huevos, Jacobs, Jatz crackers, jawbreakers, klackers, knackers, lamb fries, loins, love spuds, marbles, nadgers, nads (UK, US), nards, nuts, orchis, pebbles, plums, potatoes, pods, profiteroles, rocks, spuds, stepchildren, stones, store, sweetmeats, swingers, taters, teabags, tests, twins, watermelons, yams, yarbles

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Nonsense or information deliberately intended to mislead.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, plural, plural-normally, vulgar

Examples

  • That's a load of bollocks, mate!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: absurdity, all my eye, all my eye and Betty Martin, applesauce, bafflegab, balderdash, balls, baloney, banana oil, Bandini, baragouin, batcrap, batshit, bilgewater, blah, blather, blatherskite, bobbins, bollocks, bosh, BS, bull, bullcrap, bulldust, bull feathers, bullshit, bullspeak, bunk, bunkum, bushwah, clamjamfrey, claptrap, cobblers, codswallop, crap, crock, crock of shit, double Dutch, double talk, doublespeak, dribble, drivel, eyewash, fiddle-faddle, flapdoodle, flim-flam, flizz, flummery, folderol, foolishness, footle, framis, fuckery, fuckry, fudge, galimatias, Gallophone, garbage, garble, gash, gibber, gibberish, gobbledygook, gossip, Greek, guff, gup, hoax, hocus-pocus, hogwash, hokum, hooey, horse cock, horsefeathers, horse hockey, horse piss, horse puckey, horseshit, humbug, Irish bull, jabber, jabberwocky, jargon, jibber-jabber, jimjam, jive, junk, lallation, macaroni, malarkey, manure, meaninglessness, moonshine, mumbo jumbo, nertz, nonsense, pie in the sky, piffle, pigswill, poppycock, prattle, put-on, rhubarb, rhubarb rhubarb, rigmarole, rot, rubbish, ruse, santorum, shit, shite, skimble-skamble, squit, stuff, stuff and nonsense, tommy-rot, tosh, trittle trattle, tush, trash, tripe, twaddle, wass, whiff-whaff, word salad

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

An idiot, an ignorant or disagreeable person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, plural, plural-normally, vulgar

Examples

  • Don't mind him; he's only an oul' bollocks!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Ellipsis of the dog's bollocks.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, plural, plural-normally, vulgar

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To break.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, transitive, vulgar

Examples

  • The telly's bollocksed.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

verb

Meaning 8

To fail (a task); to make a mess of.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, transitive, vulgar

Examples

  • I bollocksed that exam.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

verb

Meaning 9

third-person singular simple present indicative of bollock

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person, transitive, vulgar

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

verb

Meaning 10

make a mess of, destroy or ruin

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • I botched the dinner and we had to eat out
  • the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: botch, bodge, bumble, fumble, botch up, muff, blow, flub, screw up, ball up, spoil, muck up, bungle, fluff, bollix, bollix up, bollocks up, bobble, mishandle, louse up, foul up, mess up, fuck up

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fail, go wrong, miscarry

History

Etymology

From Middle English ballokes (plural of ballok), from Old English beallucas (nominative plural of bealluc). By surface analysis, bollock + -s. Compare cullion.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Across languages

Translations

82 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: les boules — expressing anger, frustration
  • French: merde — expressing anger, frustration
  • French: putain — expressing anger, frustration
  • French: putain de merde — expressing anger, frustration
  • French: vingt dieux — expressing anger, frustration
  • Greek: σκατά (skatá) — expressing anger, frustration
  • Greek: γάμα τα (gáma ta) — expressing anger, frustration
  • Greek: παπάρια (papária) — expressing anger, frustration
  • Italian: puttana — expressing anger, frustration
  • Italian: merda — expressing anger, frustration
  • Italian: cazzo — expressing anger, frustration
  • Spanish: chingados — expressing anger, frustration
  • Spanish: mierda — expressing anger, frustration
  • Spanish: me cago en la puta — expressing anger, frustration
  • Spanish: hostia — expressing anger, frustration
  • Spanish: cojones — expressing anger, frustration
  • French: merde — an expression of incredulity
  • French: putain — an expression of incredulity
  • Māori: he meho — an expression of incredulity
  • Portuguese: mas por que — an expression of incredulity
  • Portuguese: boh — an expression of incredulity
  • Portuguese: poh — an expression of incredulity
  • Portuguese: essa agora — an expression of incredulity
  • Portuguese: o caralho — an expression of incredulity
  • Catalan: collons — testicles
  • Danish: nosser — testicles
  • Finnish: pallit — testicles
  • Finnish: munat — testicles
  • Finnish: kassit — testicles
  • French: couilles — testicles
  • French: pruneaux — testicles
  • French: bijoux de famille — testicles
  • French: valseuses — testicles
  • German: Nüsse — testicles
  • German: Eier — testicles
  • Greek: αρχίδια (archídia) — testicles
  • Hebrew: אֲשָׁכִים (ashakhím) — testicles
  • Hebrew: בֵּיצִים (betsím) — testicles
  • Italian: testicoli — testicles
  • Italian: coglioni — testicles
  • Italian: palle — testicles
  • Italian: balle — testicles
  • Norwegian: pokker — testicles
  • Portuguese: colhões — testicles
  • Russian: я́йца (jájca) — testicles
  • Russian: мудя (mudjá) — testicles
  • Spanish: cojones — testicles
  • Spanish: huevos — testicles
  • Spanish: bolas — testicles
  • Swedish: balle — testicles
  • Chinese Mandarin: 放屁 (fàngpì) — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Finnish: moska — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • French: conneries — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • French: foutaises — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • German: Quatsch mit Soße — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Greek: κολοκυθάκια με την ρίγανη (kolokythákia me tin rígani) — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Greek: μαλακίες (malakíes) — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Greek: παπαριές (papariés) — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Hebrew: שְׁטוּיוֹת (shtuyót) — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Hebrew: זִיּוּן־שֵׂכֶל (ziyùn-sékhel) — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Italian: coglionata — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Italian: cazzate — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Italian: palle — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Italian: balle — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Macedonian: тикви со расол (tikvi so rasol) — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Portuguese: besteira — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Portuguese: baboseira — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Portuguese: tretas — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Russian: ерунда́ (jerundá) — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Spanish: falsedad — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • Turkish: palavra — slang: complete nonsense or worthless misinformation deliberately intended to mislead
  • French: couillon — an idiot or disagreeable person
  • French: jean-foutre — an idiot or disagreeable person
  • French: malcomprenant — an idiot or disagreeable person
  • Italian: coglione — an idiot or disagreeable person
  • Portuguese: otário — an idiot or disagreeable person
  • Russian: приду́рок (pridúrok) — an idiot or disagreeable person
  • Turkish: saçma — an idiot or disagreeable person
  • French: péter — to break
  • French: foirer — to fail (a task)
  • French: chier dans la colle — to fail (a task)
  • Italian: incasinare — to fail (a task)