Dictionary

buzzword en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbʌzwɜɹd/ (General-American)
• /ˈbʌzwɜː(ɹ)d/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Coined in the 1970s in the United States, from buzz + word.

Meanings

1. (derogatory, sometimes) A word drawn from, or imitative of, technical jargon, used more to impress others than to convey meaning.
   • Ideology is a [George Cabot] Lodge buzzword, as they say in business schools, the first word that sends many executives and students who would emulate them, into fury. 1972 May 14, Marylyn Bender, “Harvard's Brahmin Radical”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 05 Oct 2022:
   • Have you tried doing it yourself? It's not easy. I was hoping to illustrate this article with some self-created buzzwords for leftwingers to use. The first one I came up with was "molehill mountaineer", a pejorative term to describe the sort of perpetually furious rightwing weevil who spends their life calculatedly conflating issues such as the "Ground Zero mosque" into gigantic media crapgasms. […] Because in today's 2,000mph technological freefall, he who coins the catchiest buzzword generally wins the debate by default. 2010 August 30, Charlie Brooker, “Buzzwords for blowhards”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 30 May 2023:
   • Their salespeople know all the right buzzwords, but they can't really help you solve your problems.
   • There is great confusion and debate about what a blockchain even is—some people argue it’s become a meaningless buzzword—but the standard definition describes a shared, decentralized, cryptographically secure, immutable digital ledger. 2018 June 19, Gideon Lewis-Kraus, “Inside the Crypto World's Biggest Scandal”, in WIRED, →ISSN, archived from the original on 14 Aug 2018:

Forms

Deriveds

buzzword bingo · buzzwordy · buzzword compliant · buzz-phrase · buzzword compliance

Descendants

buzzwoord · buzzword · buzzword · dordfhocal · Buzzword · זמזומילה · buzzword · buzzword · buzzword

Relateds

blind with science

Translations (40)

hu divatszó (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · de Schlagwort (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · de sinnentleertes Modewort (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · pl buzzword (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · vi thuật ngữ hay (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · fi iskusana (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · de abgedroschene Phrase (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · ko 유행어 (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · de Buzzword (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · hu hívószó (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · ru мо́дное сло́во (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · de Modewort (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · hu szlogen (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · hu klisé (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · ko 버즈워드 (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · nl buzzwoord (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · es tabarra (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · hu bűvszó (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · cmn 行話 /行话 (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · es cantinela (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · fi muotisana (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · nl modewoord (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · es palabra de moda (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · hu frázis (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · he זמזומילה (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · ja バズワード (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · de leeres Schlagwort (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · ga dordfhocal (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · da modeord (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · eo zumvorto (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · sv buzzword (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · fi kapulakielinen sana (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · pt buzzword (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · is tískuorð (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · ja 流行語 (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · mk помодарски збор (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · cmn 流行詞 /流行词 (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · es expresión en voga (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · es cantilena (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon) · pt palavra de efeito (word drawn from or imitative of technical jargon)