Standard Lemma guide

galimatias

noun · 2 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

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  • /ˌɡæləˈmeɪʃi.əs/
  • /-ˈmæti.əs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Nonsense, gobbledygook.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

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

2

noun

Meaning 2

A confused mixture; hodgepodge.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bouillabaisse, bric-a-brac, catch-all, clamjamfrey, cocktail, rummage, salad, anthology, gallery, congeries, crazyquilt, disjecta membra, farrago, galimatias, gallimaufry, grab bag, hodgepodge, horse and rabbit stew, hotchpotch, hotchpot, job lot, jumble, macedoine, medley, melange, mingle-mangle, miscellanea, miscellany, mishmash, mixed bag, mixture, motley, odds and ends, oddments, olio, olla podrida, omnium-gatherum, pastiche, patchwork quilt, potpourri, ragbag, salmagundi, slurry, smorgasbord, welter, Whitman's sampler

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French galimatias, first attested in 1653 in Sir Thomas Urquhart's translation of Rabelais's works.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: galimaties — gobbledygook
  • Chinese Mandarin: 胡言亂語 /胡言乱语 (húyánluànyǔ) — gobbledygook
  • Czech: galimatyáš — gobbledygook
  • Dutch: wartaal — gobbledygook
  • Dutch: onzin — gobbledygook
  • Dutch: nonsens — gobbledygook
  • Dutch: zever — gobbledygook
  • French: galimatias — gobbledygook
  • German: Gallimathias — gobbledygook
  • Polish: gmatwanina — gobbledygook
  • Portuguese: galimatias — gobbledygook
  • Romanian: galimatias — gobbledygook
  • Russian: галиматья́ (galimatʹjá) — gobbledygook
  • Spanish: galimatías — gobbledygook
  • Swedish: gallimatias — gobbledygook