English Dictionary

Definition of “bunkum

bunkum or buncombe(ˈbʌŋkəmPronunciation for )

Definitions

noun

  1. empty talk; nonsense
  2. mainly US empty or insincere speechmaking by a politician to please voters or gain publicity

Word Origin

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

Usage examples

  • `Don't believe that bunkum about opals being unlucky," said the note that accompanied it.
    Gaskin, Catherine, The Ambassador's Women (1986)
  • In reality, the notion that home-grown talent is suffering as a result of foreign imports is complete and utter bunkum.
    Spiked (2002)
  • The idea that -in the words of his former teacher -Woodgate is a lovely, modest, well-behaved man is bunkum.
    Sun, News of the World (2001)
  • Peter Nichols told me this story - it's the perfect answer to all the psychological bunkum that goes on.
    Williams Kenneth & Davies, Russell (ed.), The Kenneth Williams Diaries (1994)

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