claptrap
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clap·trap
(klăp′trăp′)n.
Pretentious, insincere, or empty language: "I hate ... that air / Of claptrap, which your recent poets prize" (Byron).
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.
claptrap
(ˈklæpˌtræp)n
1. contrived but foolish talk
2. insincere and pretentious talk: politicians' claptrap.
[C18 (in the sense: something contrived to elicit applause): from clap1 + trap1]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
clap•trap
(ˈklæpˌtræp)n.
1. pretentious and insincere or empty language.
2. any artifice or expedient for winning applause.
[1720–30]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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Noun | 1. | claptrap - pompous or pretentious talk or writing grandiloquence, grandiosity, magniloquence, ornateness, rhetoric - high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation; "the grandiosity of his prose"; "an excessive ornateness of language" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
claptrap
noun (Informal) nonsense, rubbish, rot, crap (slang), garbage (informal), trash, bunk (informal), bullshit (taboo slang), balls (taboo slang), bull (slang), shit (taboo slang), hot air (informal), tosh (slang, chiefly Brit.), flannel (Brit. informal), pap, cobblers (Brit. taboo slang), bilge (informal), humbug, drivel, twaddle, tripe (informal), affectation, guff (slang), blarney, bombast, moonshine, insincerity, hogwash, hokum (slang, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), piffle (informal), poppycock (informal), bosh (informal), eyewash (informal), tommyrot, horsefeathers (U.S. slang), bunkum or buncombe (chiefly U.S.) He talks a lot of pretentious claptrap.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
claptrap
noun1. Pretentious, pompous speech or writing:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
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
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
claptrap
n (inf) → Geschwafel nt (inf)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995