# malarkey

> English word · Noun · IPA /məˈlɑːki/ · frequency rank #58,827

## Definitions
1. Nonsense; rubbish.

## Etymology
Of unknown 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 Irish mallachtóireacht or Greek μαλακίες (malakíes)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/malarkey