1
as in gobbledegook
language marked by abstractions, jargon, euphemisms, and circumlocutions the reporter listened to the senator's double-talk for about 30 seconds, and then repeated the question

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2
as in nonsense
unintelligible or meaningless talk the man on the sidewalk rattled off some double-talk, shoved the petition in my face, and before I realized it, I had added my signature to the list

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Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of double-talk Driving the news: The statement was published only in English on the Facebook page of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office — potentially another case of double-talk by Netanyahu. Barak Ravid, Axios, 27 Sep. 2024 The GOP Senate candidate in Arizona, whose brand is a combative, never-back-down MAGA politics, has adopted a position on the issue that is nearly indistinguishable from that of double-talking Democrats. Rich Lowry, National Review, 14 Apr. 2024 Pat Paulsen, a master of dry wit, delivered droll, double-talk editorials on social issues before mounting a presidential campaign in 1968 with the Straight Talkin’ American Government (STAG) Party. Fred A. Bernstein, Washington Post, 27 Dec. 2023 What new form of narrative, what gory amalgam of truth and spectacle, what double-talking rough beast approaches? James Parker, The Atlantic, 3 Oct. 2023 If his pre-prison projects were almost entirely freestyled, these songs are more tightly written, honoring the fallen, indicting the double-talk of the industry, powered by the energy of a bowstring being pulled back for a half-decade. Jeff Weiss, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for double-talk
Noun
  • But it's commingled with misinformation, conjecture and nonsense.
    Mike Allen, Axios, 5 Nov. 2024
  • Already in Shasta County, a hotbed of far-right nonsense, these watchers have videotaped, followed and harassed county workers so much that 10 of 21 workers in the elections office have quit, according to CalMatters.
    Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • However, what violent extremists perceive as a tacit nod of approval — based on Trump’s own violent rhetoric — could lead to a surge in domestic terrorism in a country that remains anxious, angry and well-armed.
    Colin P. Clarke, The Mercury News, 12 Nov. 2024
  • Last fall, she was censured for her rhetoric on the Israel-Hamas war, which critics condemned as anti-Semitic.
    Clara Hendrickson, Detroit Free Press, 6 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • Roberts’s majority opinion is pure gobbledygook The Bruen decision placed an enormously high burden on any government lawyer trying to convince a court that any gun law is constitutional.
    Ian Millhiser, Vox, 21 June 2024
  • Others claimed the leaks were just artificial intelligence gobbledygook.
    Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 18 Apr. 2024
Noun
  • She was getting winded on our walk, and her prattle was broken up by heavy breaths.
    Joshua Cohen, The New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2024
  • The larcenous prattle is, in this sense, a typically Wiig-ian set piece: sunny, strained and flailing for dignity.
    Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2024
Noun
  • In addition to all that work, Coffin voices the demented gibberish spewed by the Minions, the bright yellow creatures who work alongside Gru. Renaud, who co-helmed the fourth installment with Patrick Delage, says that the French influence was also there from the start.
    Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 10 July 2024
  • For example, at one point the voice suddenly sped up and spewed gibberish.
    Will Knight, WIRED, 11 Sep. 2024
Noun
  • Quartz’s Rocio Fabbro runs down Powell’s limited chatter about it.
    Melvin Backman, Quartz, 8 Nov. 2024
  • Around 9:15, someone turned up the volume and Rachel Maddow’s voice rose above the chatter, warning that results would be coming in all night.
    Curbed Staff, Curbed, 6 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • Is there a company that prides itself on an absence of rigmarole?
    Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 22 July 2024
  • Last season’s nail-biting seven-game battle was famously known as the I-80 series because both teams opted for the approximately 90-minute (depending on traffic) bus ride rather than the rigmarole of a short flight.
    Joe Rubin, Sacramento Bee, 16 Apr. 2024
Noun
  • Worse, such jabber crowds out essential coverage of genuine threats to democracy and the visions of the two parties.
    Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post, 16 July 2024
  • Jacobs-Jenkins renders him as a wry, friendly figure who occasionally takes over the bodies of the other characters to explain what is happening beneath their jabber.
    Jesse Green, New York Times, 5 June 2023

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Cite this Entry

“Double-talk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/double-talk. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

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