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malarkey

(originally, US, informal) Nonsense; rubbish.

məˈlɑːkiDocumented since 1870sSilenthistoricalCurrent113 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
🗺️ Regional & Other
1 definition
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Seen in the wild
3 citations · last seen May 2026

Etymology timeline

Born ~1877 · 1 year of recorded use
1877Born2026: 3 citationsToday, 2026

Seen in the wild

Definitions

#1·Apr 27, 2026

(originally, US, informal) Nonsense; rubbish.

See it in action
  • “I posted that in a Discord server. It was well received. Someone pointed out that Cohen apparently has a clause in his contract that gets him lots of money if the stocks hit a certain threshold. So he may just be trying to manipulate the stocks with all this malarkey.”

  • “Honestly, I hate all this grooming malarkey. Not as much as I hate going to a hairdressers or barbers though, unfortunately.”

  • “"I'm going to blame the Democrats for things that the Republicans are doing because of my own personal view of the world" is some peak Bill Maher malarkey, I gotta say”

I decided it was a bunch of malarkey and stopped reading about halfway through.
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 or. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
For parents

"malarkey" means: Nonsense; rubbish.. This is informal slang, common in casual speech, texting and social media, but not appropriate for school work, applications or professional settings. There is no real cause for concern in itself; it is everyday peer vocabulary. If your child uses it, a light comment about audience and register is usually enough — no need to escalate. Context, more than the word, tells you whether to follow up.

For ESL learners

"malarkey" means: Nonsense; rubbish.. Register: informal slang, fine in casual conversation, texting and social media but not in academic essays, business writing or formal speech. Note the regional or dialect label (US) — usage may sound odd outside that variety. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.

Cluster: general
Heard in the wild
  • “I posted that in a Discord server. It was well received. Someone pointed out that Cohen apparently has a clause in his contract that gets him lots of money if the stocks hit a certain threshold. So he may just be trying to manipulate the stocks with all this malarkey.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “Honestly, I hate all this grooming malarkey. Not as much as I hate going to a hairdressers or barbers though, unfortunately.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “"I'm going to blame the Democrats for things that the Republicans are doing because of my own personal view of the world" is some peak Bill Maher malarkey, I gotta say”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
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For specific readers

"malarkey" means: Nonsense; rubbish.. This is informal slang, common in casual speech, texting and social media, but not appropriate for school work, applications or professional settings. There is no real cause for concern in itself; it is everyday peer vocabulary. If your child uses it, a light comment about audience and register is usually enough — no need to escalate. Context, more than the word, tells you whether to follow up.

Why is this section here?

Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.

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