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abracadabra

/ˌˈæbrəkəˌdæbrə/
/abrəkəˈdæbrə/
IPA guide

Other forms: abracadabras

Abracadabra isn't just a magician's wind-up to a trick; it's also a word for a load of gibberish or nonsense.

You probably know abracadabra as a word a magician might use before sawing a woman in half or making something disappear. However, it has another meaning similar to other reduplicative such as jibber-jabber and mumbo-jumbo: nonsense. Someone spouting a bunch of weird talk that doesn't make any sense is speaking abracadabra. If you want to dismiss something written or spoken, you could say, "That's a bunch of abracadabra!" Like a baby's babbling, abracadabra is meaningless.

Definitions of abracadabra
  1. noun
    gibberish and nonsense
    see moresee less
    type of:
    gibber, gibberish
    unintelligible talking
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘abracadabra'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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