Discover our nonsense words lists and learn new and exciting words that will add some pizazz to your writing!

Hullaballoo. Bumbershoot. Bamboozled. What’s the point of adding Nonsense words to your writing? It’s simple! They’re fun, add character, and provide your reader with new novel words that they likely wouldn’t have encountered otherwise. Exploring quirky words and other words for happy can add a sparkle to your writing that will draw in readers and leave a lasting impression.

What Are Nonsense Words?

Funny, silly, and straight-up goofy are classified as nonsense words. While they have meaning, they aren’t usually the most direct way to make a point–but they’re fun to use and can add joy and excitement to your writing.

Neutral Nonsense Words

Some words don’t indicate that something is good or bad. They’re just fun ways to describe everyday character traits and situations that pop up in your writing.

1. Batholith

The geology graduate students marveled at the batholith, amazed at how the mass of magma below the surface pushed the enormous segment of igneous rock far above the hills and mountains of the landscape.

2. Bumbershoot

Meredith knew she could simply refer to it as an umbrella, but it was far more fun to use the old-timey term, bumbershoot, to describe what she used to keep herself dry in the rainstorm. 

3. Bumfuzzle

Maggie felt bumfuzzled as the lights shone on the stage at the start of her dance recital, as it felt like she had forgotten everything she had practiced over the past few months. 

4. Cattywampus

Otto tried his best to make his bed, but it was a bit cattywampus, which is understandable for a five-year-old trying something new for the first time. 

5. Doozy

Ella’s conversation with her sister was a doozy; they got into the drama surrounding their parents’ recent divorce and realized they had each been told very different stories.

6. Everywhen

Paris picked up the phone immediately when it rang, as she did everywhen there was a chance her husband could be calling while overseas on a business trip. 

7. Erf

Madeline’s home was set on a 2-acre erf of land in the countryside that overlooked a brook rife with wild animals who loved to stop by for a drink in the dark forest.

8. Festooned

The fire hall was festooned with balloons and streamers, and Evelyn’s family knew she’d be completely surprised by the 50th birthday celebration they’d put together in her honor. 

9. Firkin

Jon smiled as the waiter brought a small firkin of wasabi to the table, as he enjoyed the bite of the spicy sauce with his sushi. 

10. Flabbergasted

Carrie was flabbergasted when her boss told her he wouldn’t be able to be at the big meeting later that day; she’d have to give the presentation to the board on her own.

11. Hullaballoo

Walking into the gym, Otto felt overwhelmed by the hullabaloo; from the cheering of the cheerleaders to the sound of the basketball team warming up on the court to the chatter of people in the stands, the noise was inescapable. 

12. Macaronic

Juanita spoke in macaronic language, combining English with Spanish in a way that allowed her to fully express her feelings to her family. 

13. Obelus

Kevin was confused when his math teacher referred to the division sign as an obelus, but he soon learned that this was the technical term for the symbol used to divide two numbers. 

14. Ragout

Giada could smell her grandmother’s ragout before she even opened the front door, and she couldn’t wait to taste the delicious stew of meat and vegetables. 

15. Skedaddle

Charlie told the middle schoolers to skedaddle from his yard; they were harmless, but Charlie didn’t care for anyone hanging out on his property, even if they were just waiting for the bus. 

16. Skirl

Amy had a solemn smile on her face as she heard the skirl of the bagpipes, as she knew her mother would be proud that her family was honoring her Irish heritage at her funeral. 

17. Smaze

Veronica felt sad as she glanced over the skyline of Tokyo, as the maze made up of smoke and haze blurred the skyscrapers she had once dreamed of climbing.

18. Spondulicks

Before I was willing to sell my patio furniture, I needed the person who agreed to pay me $100 online to show up with the spondulicks. 

19. Strawhat

The Graham family sat down on their blanket in the park, enjoying the warm breeze while they waited for the local theater company’s straw hat summer play to begin.

Positive Nonsense Words

These words can be used to describe a character, action, or situation in a positive light and are far more fun than the standard adjectives and verbs readers are used to.

20. Abear

The pain of cancer treatment was excruciating, but Michael wore it like a badge of honor; it was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to abear, yet he made it through on the other side. 

21. Canoodle

The newlyweds were canoodling as they waited on the bench outside the restaurant for their table to be ready, and it was clear to onlookers that they were in love. 

22. Conjubiliant

The church congregation cried out in jubilant praise as they saw the joy on Victor’s face after he completed his baptism. 

23. Cutsey-poo

The golden retriever puppy was so cutesy-poo that Stephanie could help but pat its head every time she saw him out for a walk in the neighborhood. 

24. Flibbertigibbet

Megan was a classic flibbertigibbet; she never knew when to stop talking and often rambled on long after the people she was talking to lost interest. 

25. Schmooze

Jen wanted the silent auction to finally allow her to hit her fundraising goal for the year, so she planned to spend plenty of time schmoozing with big-time donors before the event kicked off at 6 pm. 

26. Smicker

As Josh looked at his prom date, he couldn’t help but smicker, even though he knew his friends would make fun of him later for staring at her with such a goofy smile on his face. 

Negative Nonsense Words

These negative nonsense words can help your reader understand just how bad a situation, character, or object is while adding a touch of old-world charm.

27. Accubation

He seemed to give off an air of superiority as he leaned back in his chair while he ate, his accubation making him appear complacent. 

28. Agelast

Susan couldn’t understand why Jen was such an agelast; everyone else enjoyed laughing at her jokes, but Jen never seemed to smile.

29. Bamboozled

Tim felt bamboozled by the bar fight, as he’d only had a single beer and couldn’t understand what the bikers found offensive about his conversation with the woman sitting to his right.

30. Biblioklept

“I have an odd problem,” began Roger, “I’m a biblioklept, a person who can’t seem to stop stealing books from bookstores and libraries.”

31. Collywobbles

Before walking through the door to meet her blind date, Mary Jane felt collywobbles in her stomach, and she hoped that they’d calm down as soon as the mystery of who she was meeting was finally solved.

32. Finifugal

Linda was a bit of a finifugal as the beach vacation drew to a close, repeatedly wanting to extend the trip for a few more minutes by stopping in one more souvenir store to find the perfect way to remember the trip.

33. Foppish

Martin was known as a bit foppish in his friend group, as he couldn’t stop checking his outfit on any reflective surface–including store windows–as they walked together downtown. 

34. Fuddy-duddy

Josephine figured her grandkids considered her a bit of a fuddy-duddy, but she couldn’t help clinging to her values and traditions no matter how much times had changed.

35. Gobbledygook

While she looked authoritative on the podium, much of what came out of her mouth was gobbledygook, and the people in the audience quickly realized that she wasn’t prepared for her presentation.

36. Hoodwink

Mayor Ludwig was known for trying to hoodwink his voters, using creative language to get them to believe he’d follow through on his promises when he had no intention of doing anything of the sort.

37. Lollygag

The group of students took their time lollygagging on their breaks between classes on the last day of school, thankful that it was the end of the semester and the stress of homework and exams was finally over.

38. Noob

Claudia had to giggle as she watched her brother try to learn how to play her favorite video game–no matter how much effort he was putting into getting it right, it was clear that he was still a noob.

39. Palaver

There was no reason for so much palaver at the annual 5K; the route was simple, and setting up tons of signs and traffic cones just made things unnecessarily complicated.

40. Piffle

“Don’t listen to them; what they’re telling you is just a bunch of piffle,” Melinda said to her daughter, reassuring her that she was beautiful and the girls who made fun of her were probably just jealous of her natural good looks.

41. Popple

The popple of the sea worried those on board the yacht, as the waves seemed to become more and more rough the further they traveled into the ocean. 

42. Pronk

The gazelle pronked as it saw the lions approaching, leaping into the air with fright and anxiety. 

43. Ramshackle

Donna felt nervous as they pulled up to the cabin they’d rented for the weekend, as it looked far more ramshackle than it had appeared on the website they used to book their stay online. 

44. Sozzled

Kathy got sozzled during the group’s St. Patrick’s Day bar crawl; her friends were worried that she’d have trouble getting through the following day with the hangover she was bound to have.

45. Stumblebum

Pilar was a bit of a stumblebum, feeling clumsy as she worked to make her way through the ropes course when she knew she had two left feet.

46. Taradiddle

He said that he didn’t stop for fast food on the way home, but the receipt in the car said otherwise–Ronda couldn’t figure out why her brother would tell such a taradiddle.

47. Whiffler

It can be tough to argue with my mom, as she’s a bit of a whiffler, constantly changing her opinions amid an argument to come out on top. 

48. Whippersnapper

The Congressman stepped onto the yacht and appeared to be a bit of a whippersnapper, young, overly confident, and far too full of himself for his good.

49. Widdershins

She was confused as they hit the dance floor as he led her widdershins instead of the traditional clockwise direction.

50. Wishy-washy

No matter how much her family pushed her to commit to plans, Matilda was always wishy-washy and never wanted to say when she’d arrive at the lake house for sure. 

Looking for more? Check out our list of other words for amazing to use in your writing!