nonsense

«nonsense» in Mova's school dictionary: words or ideas that are silly, untrue or have no meaning — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (nonsense — uncountable); interjection (Nonsense!); adjective (nonsense words, nonsense poems)

meaning for a pupil

1) Nonsense is words or ideas that are silly, untrue or have no meaning. tree →

2) Nonsense is also silly or annoying behaviour, as in "Stop this nonsense!". tree →

3) "Nonsense!" is said to disagree strongly with something. tree →

4) Nonsense words and nonsense poems are made up for fun and do not have real meanings. tree →

sense in the lessons

In reading lessons children read nonsense words (like "blim" or "zort") to practise phonics, and enjoy nonsense poems by Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. In everyday life a parent may say "That's nonsense" to calm a fear or reject an excuse. In science, a claim with no evidence may be called nonsense. Phrases: "talk nonsense", "utter nonsense", "stuff and nonsense", "no-nonsense", "make nonsense of".

examples

• Don't talk nonsense — monsters don't live under your bed. tree →
• "Jabberwocky" is a famous nonsense poem. tree →
• In phonics we read nonsense words like "plim" and "groft". tree →
• "I'm too old to play." "Nonsense! Come and join in." tree →
• That's enough of this nonsense; sit down, please. tree →
• The idea that goldfish remember only three seconds is nonsense. tree →
• Our coach is a no-nonsense woman who expects hard work. tree →
• 'My friend, you are talking nonsense. tree →

note

Uncountable: "a lot of nonsense", not "a nonsense" (though British people sometimes say "it makes a nonsense of the rules"). "No-nonsense" is an adjective meaning practical and strict. Similar words: rubbish (UK), rot, baloney (US, informal), codswallop (UK, informal), crap (rude).

In the corpora

• AI pictures sometimes have clues, like odd hands or nonsense writing, but newer ones may have none.
• Scary predictions online are usually nonsense meant to get attention.
• The Mock Turtle says it «sounds uncommon nonsense» (uncommon = very, in old country talk).
• Alice: «Stuff and nonsense!
• The ducks don't either, laughs the Rat — they say it's nonsense to sit on banks making poems about other people.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «nonsense» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.