claptrap


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clap·trap

 (klăp′trăp′)
n.
Pretentious, insincere, or empty language: "I hate ... that air / Of claptrap, which your recent poets prize" (Byron).

[Obsolete claptrap, a theatrical trick to win applause : clap + trap.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

claptrap

(ˈklæpˌtræp)
n
1. contrived but foolish talk
2. insincere and pretentious talk: politicians' claptrap.
[C18 (in the sense: something contrived to elicit applause): from clap1 + trap1]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

clap•trap

(ˈklæpˌtræp)

n.
1. pretentious and insincere or empty language.
2. any artifice or expedient for winning applause.
[1720–30]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.claptrap - pompous or pretentious talk or writingclaptrap - pompous or pretentious talk or writing
grandiloquence, grandiosity, magniloquence, ornateness, rhetoric - high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation; "the grandiosity of his prose"; "an excessive ornateness of language"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

claptrap

noun (Informal) nonsense, rubbish, rot, crap (slang), garbage (informal), trash, bunk (informal), bullshit (taboo slang), balls (taboo slang), bull (slang), shit (taboo slang), hot air (informal), tosh (slang, chiefly Brit.), flannel (Brit. informal), pap, cobblers (Brit. taboo slang), bilge (informal), humbug, drivel, twaddle, tripe (informal), affectation, guff (slang), blarney, bombast, moonshine, insincerity, hogwash, hokum (slang, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), piffle (informal), poppycock (informal), bosh (informal), eyewash (informal), tommyrot, horsefeathers (U.S. slang), bunkum or buncombe (chiefly U.S.) He talks a lot of pretentious claptrap.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

claptrap

noun
1. Pretentious, pompous speech or writing:
2. Something that does not have or make sense:
Informal: tommyrot.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

claptrap

[ˈklæptræp] N (pej) → burradas fpl, disparates mpl
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

claptrap

[ˈklæptræp] nbaratin m
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

claptrap

n (inf)Geschwafel nt (inf)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

claptrap

[ˈklæpˌtræp] n (pej, fam) → chiacchiere fpl, sciocchezze fpl
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
"As to the great service," said Carton, "I am bound to avow to you, when you speak of it in that way, that it was mere professional claptrap, I don't know that I cared what became of you, when I rendered it.--Mind!
"Borderlands 3" just got a new trailer which features Claptrap talking about Pandora.
SIR, - Climate claptrap is in the news again with our failed prime minister getting to announce "carbon neutrality" by 2050 as her leaving present, and climate change being inevitably blamed for some not-unprecedented hot weather in Europe.
Well I for one don't think it is enough for the usual claptrap that lessons have been learned, training improved etc Anyone thinking of resigning?
From his long sleep the king was disturbed After some debate Richard has been re-interred For five hundred year he lay at peace Being left to sleep he may well have preferred At Bosworth Field, Richard fought and died Fighting like a savage yet still victory was denied Greyfriars became his resting place Quite unsuitable for his grace Although Richard's reputation was not to good Perhaps he was just misunderstood History tells us he was a rather devious chap Or was his killing of his young cousin Edward claptrap? He is now re-interred at Leicester Cathedral Despite the clamour for a York Minister retrieval Hopefully Richard is now left to rest in peace After a dignified reburial for the deceased GEORGE MCLANDERS
The former E&S 'unsigned page' star, from Tettenhall, will rock out at Stourbridge's The Claptrap Venue next month.
Every time the hub is connected or you interact with one of the ports, you will be greeted by one of five phrases from Claptrap, from the Borderlands video games series.
My husband says I'm becoming a northerner, but I haven't had gravy on my chips yet" Gina Miller, campaigner over Brexit "Millionaires like me who proudly pay their taxes must suffer envious, lazy Labour-cliched claptrap from idiots like you" Simply Red frontman Mick Hucknall clashes with a left-winger on Twitter "He used to wear quite a long black leather coat and black leather boots and he had very long jet-black hair that kind of hung like crows' wings down past his shoulders" TV's Richard Madeley recalling Chancellor Philip Hammond when they were at school together "The truth is that finding someone to do things with is easy.
It's finding the someone to do nothing with that's tricky TV's Dame Esther Rantzen on the problems facing old people Millionaires like me who proudly pay their taxes must suffer envious, lazy Labour-cliched claptrap from idiots like you Simply Red frontman Mick Hucknall clashes with a left-winger on Twitter I've discovered all this junk food.
Tory MP Philip Davies branded the plan, downloaded more than 600 times, "politically correct claptrap".
Stereotyping British people as "sodden throwers of plastic chairs across foreign town squares", who believe Muslims, Hindus etc, are "inferior and think they should leave" and "reject the advice of experts because they are experts" is elitist claptrap which shows once again what the so-called political class think of the ordinary man in the street.
Experts have said that Edmonds' suggestions that a cancer sufferer's ill-health was caused by "negative energy" were "claptrap".