bunkum

Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms, Wikipedia.

bun·kum

also bun·combe (bŭng′kəm)

Empty or insincere talk; claptrap.

[After Buncombe, a county of western North Carolina, from a remark made around 1820 by its congressman, who felt obligated to give a dull speech "for Buncombe".]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bunkum

(ˈbʌŋkəm) or

buncombe

1. empty talk; nonsense

2. chiefly US empty or insincere speechmaking by a politician to please voters or gain publicity

[C19: after Buncombe, a county in North Carolina, alluded to in an inane speech by its Congressional representative Felix Walker (about 1820)]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bun•kum

or bun•combe

(ˈbʌŋ kəm)

n.

1. insincere speechmaking by a politician intended merely to please local constituents.

2. insincere talk; claptrap; humbug.

[after speech in 16th Congress, 1819–21, by French. Walker, who said he was bound to speak for Buncombe (N.C. county in district he represented)]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

bunkum - unacceptable behavior (especially ludicrously false statements)

buncombe, guff, hogwash, rot, bunk

Irish bull, crap, bull - obscene words for unacceptable behavior; "I put up with a lot of bullshit from that jerk"; "what he said was mostly bull"

drivel, garbage - a worthless message

bunkum

also buncombe
noun

Something that does not have or make sense:

balderdash, blather, claptrap, drivel, garbage, idiocy, nonsense, piffle, poppycock, rigmarole, rubbish, tomfoolery, trash, twaddle.

Informal: tommyrot.

Slang: applesauce, baloney, bilge, bull, bunk, crap, hooey, malarkey.

Translations

bunkum

[ˈbʌŋkəm] N → bobadas fpl

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

bunkum

[ˈbʌŋkəm] n (= balderdash) → foutaises fpl , foutaise f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

bunkum

n (inf) → Blödsinn m, → Quatsch m (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

bunkum

[ˈbʌŋkəm] n (fam) → scempiaggini fpl

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

He waited until the place had become absolutely silent and expectant, then he delivered his deadliest shot; delivered it with ice-cold seriousness and deliberation, with a significant emphasis upon the closing words: he said he believed that the reward offered for the lost knife was humbug and bunkum, and that its owner would know where to find it whenever he should have occasion TO ASSASSINATE SOMEBODY.

View in context

philanthropic bunkum. Take it as a rule that nothing pays on a small scale.

View in context

"It sounds all right, but it's bunkum all the same.

View in context

Mr Campbell said: "It shows the Northern Powerhouse is bunkum."

Heather Mills calls on Boris Johnson to invest in her North East vegan factories; The entrepreneur wants the Government to help boost business

Government's been useless." Mr Campbell said: "It shows the Northern Powerhouse is bunkum."

HEATHER'S PS23M FOR VEGAN FIRM LAUNCH

A strange character who knew Buffalo Bill personally, and who rode, shot and roped with Hoot Gibson, over the boundless prairies of the Wild West." Sounds like a lot of bunkum to me, but I love your column.