Dictionary

malarkey en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /məˈlɑɹki/ (General-American)
• /məˈlɑːki/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Received-Pronunciation) audio

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)

Meanings

1. (informal) Nonsense; rubbish.
   • She shrugged. "I've told you all I know." / "Mallarky. You haven't even begun to spill and you know it." 1945, Lawrence Lariar, Erle Stanley Gardner, Marjorie Alan, The Girl with the Frightened Eyes [by Lawrence Lariar]; The Case of the Half-wakened Wife [by Erle Stanley Gardner]; Dark Prophecy [by Marjorie Alan], New York, N.Y.: Detective Book Club, →OCLC, page 127:
   • But, Tony, this has got to stay within the Department. None of our FBIers or state troopers or all them other malarkeys get to hear a word of it. 1983, Donald E[dwin] Westlake, chapter 23, in Why Me?, New York, N.Y.: Viking, →ISBN; republished [New York, N.Y.]: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road, 2011, →ISBN:
   • I decided it was a bunch of malarkey and stopped reading about halfway through.
   • 'Smuggling,' she said. 'has a fine romantic ring about it—once aboard the lugger, you heave ho and all that kind of malarky. [...]' 1968, Margery Allingham, “The String Man”, in Cargo of Eagles, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC; republished London: Vintage, 2016, →ISBN, page 91:
   • But I'm not havin' this film mallarky. I'm takin' no memories wi' me. 1985, Stephen Lowe, “Moving Pictures”, in Moving Pictures: Four Plays (Methuen New Theatrescript), London; New York, N.Y.: Methuen, →ISBN, page 7:
   • "An underwater tunnel!" he exclaimed. "A connection between two seas! Who ever heard of such malarkey!" 2001 January, Jules Verne, chapter 5, in Frederick Paul Walter, transl., 20,000 Leagues under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World (Project Gutenberg eBook; #2488), Project Gutenberg, →OCLC, part 2:
   • If I told you that we had launched the glove washing program without effort it would be purely malarkey. Right off the bat we had some squawks about dermatitis. 1957 July, Merrick Pratt, “Administering the Protective Equipment Program”, in Gerard J. Riley, editor, Modern Sanitation: The Magazine of Sanitation Management and Plant Housekeeping, volume 9, number 1, Easton, Pa.: Powell Magazines, →OCLC, page 21:
   • Malachy—You said it—I wouldn't trust a lawyer no further than I could throw a case of Scotch. 1934 April 2, Thomas Aloysius Dorgan, The Capital Times, Madison, Wis.: Capital Times Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6:
   • Save that malarkey for those old fossils at Midas Creek! You're aiming at the pot. So am I. I'm in control, but you and your infernal luck could upset the applecart. 1957 October 19, Robert Ormond Case, “Trouble at Midas Creek”, in Ben Hibbs, editor, The Saturday Evening Post, volume 230, number 16, Philadelphia, Pa.; London: Curtis Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 64, column 1:
   • That's a bunch of malarkey piled on malarkey. I knew the minute I saw you there was something special about you, [...] 2015, Liz Talley, Sweet Talking Man (Harlequin Superromance), Don Mills, Ont.: Harlequin Enterprises, →ISBN, page 337:
   • "No. She was going through a Kramer vs. Kramer kind of thing at the time. You know, a sort of I-want-to-find-out-who-I-am malarkey." / "And did she find out who she was?" / "Not really. I don't know if anyone really does, do they?" 1998, Nick Hornby, chapter 13, in About a Boy, London: Gollancz, →ISBN; republished as chapter 13, in About a Boy, New York, N.Y.: Riverhead Books, 1998, →ISBN:
   • A company that makes a fetish of never exceeding the budget invites game-playing and other malarky. It is easy to forget the obvious: that it involves no skill to come in on time and under budget if the schedule and budget are generous enough. 1993, Richard Barry, “Budgeting”, in The Management of International Oil Operations, Tulsa, Ok.: PennWell Books, →ISBN, page 331:
   • This book isn't about the application process itself – how best to complete your UCAS form, what the codes are for exam awarding bodies, what to say in interviews and all that mullarkey. 2004, Johnny Rich, “The Application Process”, in Ruth Bushi, editor, The Push Guide to Choosing a University, 2nd edition, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire: Nelson Thornes, →ISBN, page 68:
   • It's a lot of mallarky for mothers, sisters, and sweethearts to ask "Laddie, when you're far away will you think of me?" The answer is NO! The girls who teach the soldier boys are kept busy as a bee. It's the soldier boys who pay. 1939, The Commentator, volume 6, New York, N.Y.: Payson Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 45, column 2:

Forms

Synonyms

bulldust · rubbish · baloney · crap · bobbins · bullcrap · lallation · bunk · skimble-skamble · hoax · batshit · double Dutch · bullshit · jabber · garbage · all my eye · double talk · applesauce · blather · squit · horse puckey · horseshit · horse cock · claptrap · Irish bull · gobbledygook · rot · gash · hogwash · blah-blah-blah · baragouin · put-on · footle · drivel · flim-flam · jibber-jabber · hokum · horse hockey · bull feathers · ruse · trittle trattle · bunkum · gossip · wass · garble · gibberish · codswallop · pigswill · bullspeak · santorum · moonshine · gibber · Bandini · jabberwocky · word salad · trash · flapdoodle · absurdity · horse piss · Gallophone · banana oil · stuff and nonsense · macaroni · nertz · tommy-rot · dribble · rhubarb rhubarb · manure · fudge · flizz · fiddle-faddle · blah · mumbo jumbo · rhubarb · balls · BS · shite · batcrap · twaddle · hocus-pocus · cobblers · apple grease · nonsense · fuckry · prattle · eyewash · flummery · crock of shit · bafflegab · humbug · blatherskite · meaninglessness · balderdash · galimatias · blah-blah · guff · crock · doublespeak · whiff-whaff · shit · framis · malarkey · foolishness · jimjam · all my eye and Betty Martin · Greek · clamjamfrey · bushwah · bollocks · junk · jargon · fuckery · bilgewater · rigmarole · gup · tosh · bosh · piffle · horsefeathers · bull · jive · tripe · folderol · tush · hooey · poppycock · pie in the sky · stuff

Translations (53)

pt nūga (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · es payasadas (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · de Schwachsinn (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · de Humbug (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · pt disparate (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · es majaderías (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · pt rodela (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · fi roska (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · fi puuta heinää (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · pl brednie (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · de Mumpitz (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · fr absurdité (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · ca estirabot (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · de Unfug (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · es tonterías (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · el μαλακία (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · la gerra (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · fi humpuuki (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · es majadería (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · it cazzata (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · hu süket duma (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · pl bzdura (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · ro nonsens (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · ca falòrnia (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · ro fleacuri (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · es pamplinas (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · de Quatsch (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · it balla (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · hu süketelés (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · de Schmarrn (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · hu maszlag (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · hu rizsa (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · hu kitaláció (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · ru чепуха (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · de Blödsinn (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · ro nimicuri (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · pl humbug (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · hu sóder (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · it fandonia (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · la nūga (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · de Kappes (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · ro prostii (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · hu mese habbal (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · hu halandzsa (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · ca sense sentit (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · ca ximpleria (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · ru чушь (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · pt bobeira (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · es sinsentido (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · it senza senso (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · pt besteira (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · es sandeces (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense) · de Unsinn (nonsense; rubbish — see also nonsense)

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