nonsensicaladj.n.

1645 J. Raicraft Looking Glass for Anabaptists To Rdr. sig. A2 I have here laid it down as it came written.., and not as it was most falsely added to and taken from in the printing to cover his nonsensicall absurdities.

1668 S. Pepys Diary 12 Oct. (1976) IX. 327 A ridiculous nonsensical book set out by Will Pen for the Quakers.

1684 A. Wood Life & Times (1894) III. 120 Lord Hawley, the great bull-maker or maker of nonsensicall puns.

1715 B. Griffin Love in Sack 4 If there were no nonsensical Flights, The Women would want what to say, The Poets want something to write, And the Actors want Farces to play.

1741 S. Richardson Pamela IV. ii. 11 Canst thou not forbear letting thy discerning Lord see thy nonsensical Emotions?

1773 R. Graves Spiritual Quixote II. viii. xxvii. 277 This sort of nonsensical books have brought many a poor wretch to the gallows.

1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. xiv. 294 The knight's a punctilious old fool, but I promise you his daughter is above all nonsensical ceremony and prejudice.

1869 W. H. Ainsworth Hilary St. Ives I. ii.i. 189 Put aside all nonsensical feeling, and accept Sir Charles.

1885 Law Times 78 186/2 This sentence is certainly the worst.., and it would be hard to invent a more nonsensical one.

1924 Amer. Mercury Dec. 449/2 The rather dubious pleasure of listening ten hours a day to dull roll calls and nonsensical speeches.

1960 B. Bettelheim Informed Heart (1986) v. 221 The SS had formed a nonsensical stereotyped picture of the Jew and assumed that all Jews were alike.

1995 Guardian 27 Jan. (Friday Review section) 10/4 Music with nonsensical lyrics and elaborately bizarre titles.

c1661 Argyle's Last Will in Harl. Misc. (1746) VIII. 27/2 Presbytery will soon lose a prating, nonsensical Cacafuego.

1682 Modest Enq. Election Sheriffs London 24 Stupid and nonsensical Fops.

1704 J. Swift Full Acct. Battel between Bks. in Tale of Tub 269 A Pack of..confounded Loggerheads, and illiterate Whelps, and nonsensical Scoundrels.

1744 S. Fielding Adventures David Simple I. ii. vi. 204 I am none of those nonsensical Fools that can whine and make romantick Love, I leave that to younger Brothers.

1816 J. Austen Emma II. viii. 133 ‘Nonsensical girl!’ was his reply. View more context for this quotation

1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. xv. 241 Come, now, Marie, what do you think of the likeness? Don't be nonsensical, now.

1893 F. E. W. Harper Iola Leroy (1988) xxxii. 272 Oh, you're the most nonsensical man I know.

2003 Re: Floppy Nonsense in comp.sys.mac.apps (Usenet newsgroup) 25 June I've only read a couple hundred posts so far, but I have to say that you are by far and away the most nonsensical person I've come across.

1842 Peter Parley's Ann. 246 Silks and satins..and the host of nonsensicals with which little minds pride themselves.

1856 J. F. Ferrier Inst. Metaphysic (ed. 2) App. I. 498 It does not..hold the mind thus circumstanced..to be a nonentity, but only a non-sensical, an absolutely inconceivable.