mumbo jumbo

mum·bo jum·bo or mum·bo-jum·bo  (mmb-jmb)

n. pl. mum·bo jum·bos or mum·bo-jum·bos

1. Unintelligible or incomprehensible language; gibberish.

2. Language or ritualistic activity intended to confuse.

3. A complicated or obscure ritual.

4. An object believed to have supernatural powers; a fetish.

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[Perhaps of Mandingo origin .]

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mumbo jumbo [ˈmʌmbəʊ]

n pl mumbo jumbos

1. (Spirituality, New Age, Astrology & Self-help / Alternative Belief Systems) foolish religious reverence, ritual, or incantation

2. (Linguistics) meaningless or unnecessarily complicated language

3. (Spirituality, New Age, Astrology & Self-help / Alternative Belief Systems) an object of superstitious awe or reverence

[probably from Mandingo mama dyumbo, name of a tribal god]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

mumbo jumbo - language or ritual causing, or intending to cause, confusion gibber, gibberish - unintelligible talking

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mumbo jumbo

noun

1. gibberish, nonsense, jargon, humbug, cant, Greek (informal), claptrap (informal), gobbledegook (informal), rigmarole, double talk It's all full of psychoanalytic mumbo jumbo.

2. superstition, magic, ritual, hocus-pocus He dabbled in all sorts of mumbo jumbo.

Translations

mumbo jumbo [ˈmʌmbəʊˈdʒʌmbəʊ] N (= nonsense) → galimatías m inv

mumbo jumbo [ˌmʌmbəʊˈdʒʌmbəʊ] n → baragouin m, charabia m

mumbo jumbo

n (= empty ritual, superstition) → Hokuspokus m; (= gibberish) → Kauderwelsch nt; (= idol) → Abgott m

mumbo jumbo [ˌmʌmbəʊˈdʒʌmbəʊ] n (pej) → sfilza di paroloni