nonsense
non·sense/ˈnɑn.sɛns/noun, verb, adjective, interjection
nonsense is spelled N-O-N-S-E-N-S-E, 2 syllables: non·sense. The wrong spelling people search most is nonsence: about 80 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 18 of all searches for the word. Nonsense is a noun meaning “Letters or words, in writing or speech, that have no meaning or pattern or seem to have no meaning”. The plural of nonsense is nonsenses.
How many letters and syllables are in nonsense?
| Letters | 8: N-O-N-S-E-N-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: non·sense |
| In writing | 16 times per million words; the 5,025th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, nonsence, about 80 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell nonsense?
Nonsense is spelled N-O-N-S-E-N-S-E. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 14 of the searches for nonsense in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is nonsense?
Nonsense appears 16 times per million words in written English, the 5,025th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce nonsense?
- UK /ˈnɒn.səns/
- US /ˈnɑn.sɛns/
- Australia /ˈnɔn.səns/
Nonsense has 2 syllables, split non·sense in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-nonsense.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with nonsense
Also written: non-sense (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of nonsense
- nonsenses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- non-sense
- nonsensing participle, present
- nonsensed participle, past
- more nonsense comparative
- most nonsense superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does nonsense mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Letters or words, in writing or speech, that have no meaning or pattern or seem to have no meaning.
After my father had a stroke, every time he tried to talk, it sounded like nonsense.
- 2
An untrue statement.
- 3
That which is silly, illogical and lacks any meaning, reason or value; that which does not make sense.
- 4
Something foolish.
- 5
A type of poetry that contains strange or surreal ideas, as, for example, that written by Edward Lear.
- 6
A damaged DNA sequence whose products are not biologically active, that is, that does nothing.
verb
- 1
To make nonsense of;
- 2
To attempt to dismiss as nonsense; to ignore or belittle the significance of something; to render unimportant or puny.
- 3
To joke around, to waste time
adjective
- 1
Nonsensical.
- 2
Resulting from the substitution of a nucleotide in a sense codon, causing it to become a stop codon (not coding for an amino-acid).
interjection
- 1
An emphatic rejection of something one has just heard and does not believe or agree with.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Nonsense in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bêtise, absurdité , sottise (s), n'importe quoi, connerie , non-sens |
| German | Blödsinn, Nonsens, Quatsch, Unsinn, Tüddelkram , papperlapapp |
| Portuguese | besteira, bobagem, burrice, disparate , sem sentido |
| Spanish | disparate, parida, pamplina, pamema, sinsentido, despropósito |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.