Standard Lemma guide

malarkey

name · noun · 3 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /məˈlɑːki/
  • Received-Pronunciation: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /məˈlɑɹki/
  • rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)ki
  • CMU ARPABET: M AH0 L AA1 R K IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Nonsense; rubbish.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

Examples

  • I decided it was a bunch of malarkey and stopped reading about halfway through.

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

3

noun

Meaning 3

empty rhetoric or insincere or exaggerated talk

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • that's a lot of wind
  • don't give me any of that jazz

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: wind, malarky, idle words, jazz, nothingness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: talk, talking

History

Etymology

Of unknown origin; the word was popularized by the Irish-American cartoonist Thomas Aloysius (“Tad”) Dorgan (1877–1929), who started using it in cartoons on March 9, 1922. Maybe from Irish mallachtóireacht or Greek μαλακίες (malakíes)

Across languages

Translations

52 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: falòrnia — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Catalan: ximpleria — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Catalan: sense sentit — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Catalan: estirabot — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Finnish: humpuuki — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Finnish: puuta heinää — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Finnish: roska — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • French: absurdité — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • German: Blödsinn — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • German: Humbug — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • German: Kappes — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • German: Mumpitz — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • German: Quatsch — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • German: Schmarrn — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • German: Schwachsinn — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • German: Unfug — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • German: Unsinn — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Greek: μαλακία (malakía) — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Hungarian: sóder — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Hungarian: maszlag — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Hungarian: süketelés — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Hungarian: süket duma — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Hungarian: halandzsa — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Hungarian: kitaláció — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Hungarian: mese habbal — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Hungarian: rizsa — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Italian: balla — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Italian: cazzata — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Italian: fandonia — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Italian: senza senso — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Latin: nūga — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Latin: gerra — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Polish: brednie — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Polish: bzdura — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Polish: humbug — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Portuguese: besteira — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Portuguese: bobeira — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Portuguese: rodela — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Portuguese: disparate — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Portuguese: nūga — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Romanian: fleacuri — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Romanian: nimicuri — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Romanian: nonsens — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Romanian: prostii — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Russian: чушь (čušʹ) — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Russian: чепуха (čepuxa) — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Spanish: majaderías — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Spanish: payasadas — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Spanish: sandeces — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Spanish: tonterías — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Spanish: sinsentido — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense
  • Spanish: majadería — nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense