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mumbo jumbo Definition

mumbo jumbo (mum′bō jum′bō)

noun

  1. among certain West African tribes, an idol or god believed to protect the people from evil and terrorize the women into subjection
    1. any idol or fetish
    2. any object of fear or dread
  3. meaningless ritual
  4. gibberish

Etymology: of Afr orig.: meaning, form, & dialect uncert.

mumbo jumbo Synonyms

mumbo jumbo

n.

  1. Nonsense

    jabber, gibberish, hocus-pocus, double talk, drivel, gobbledegook, psychobabble, doublespeak, wish-wash*, jazz*, guff*; see also nonsense 1.

  2. Red tape

    smoke screen, run-around, officialism; see bureaucracy 1, 2, details.

Browse dictionary entries near mumbo jumbo

  1. ‹ mumbletypeg
  2. ‹ mumble
  3. ‹ Mumbai
  4. ‹ mum
  5. ‹ multure
  6. ‹ multiversity
  7. ‹ multivariate
  8. ‹ multivalent
  9. ‹ multitudinous
  10. ‹ multitude
  1. Mumford ›
  2. Mumford, Lewis ›
  3. mummer ›
  4. mummery ›
  5. mummify ›
  6. mummy ›
  7. mump ›
  8. mumpish ›
  9. mumps ›
  10. mumu ›