mumbo jumbo
noun /ˌmʌmbəʊ ˈdʒʌmbəʊ/
/ˌmʌmbəʊ ˈdʒʌmbəʊ/
[uncountable] (informal, disapproving)- language or a ceremony that seems complicated and important but is actually without real sense or meaning synonym nonsense
- religious/medical/bureaucratic mumbo jumbo
- I won’t have anything to do with spiritualism, ghosts and all that mumbo jumbo.
More Like This Reduplicative wordsReduplicative words- airy-fairy
- argy-bargy
- chit-chat
- criss-cross
- dilly-dally
- harum-scarum
- helter-skelter
- higgledy-piggledy
- hocus-pocus
- hoity-toity
- hotchpotch
- hurly-burly
- itty-bitty
- mumbo jumbo
- mishmash
- nitty-gritty
- ping-pong
- pitter-patter
- shilly-shally
- teeny-weeny
- tittle-tattle
- touchy-feely
- wishy-washy
Word Originmid 18th cent. (as Mumbo Jumbo, denoting a supposed African idol): of unknown origin; the current sense dates from the late 19th cent.