Rubbish Definition

rŭbĭsh
noun
Refuse; garbage.
American Heritage
Any material rejected or thrown away as worthless; trash; refuse.
Webster's New World
Worthless, foolish ideas, statements, etc.; nonsense.
Webster's New World

(chiefly Australia, New Zealand, UK) Garbage, junk, refuse, waste.

The rubbish is collected every Thursday in Gloucester, but on Wednesdays in Cheltenham.
Wiktionary
Fragments of buildings; ruins; debris.
Wiktionary
Antonyms:
verb
Webster's New World

(UK) To denounce, to criticise, to denigrate, to disparage.

Wiktionary
adjective

(chiefly Australia, New Zealand, UK, colloquial) Exceedingly bad; awful; terrible; crappy.

This has been a rubbish day, and it's about to get worse: my mother-in-law is coming to stay.
Wiktionary
interjection
(chiefly Australia, New Zealand, UK, colloquial) Expresses that something is exceedingly bad, terrible or awful.
The one day I actually practice my violin, the teacher cancels the lesson.
Aw, rubbish! Though at least this means you have time to play football...
Wiktionary
Expresses that what was recently said is untruth or nonsense.
Rubbish! I did nothing of the sort!
Wiktionary

Origin of Rubbish

  • Anglo-Norman rubouses, of Unknown origin; presumably ultimately from Proto-Germanic *raub- (“to break") (from whence rob, via meaning “plunder, destroy"). Related to rubble. In verb sense “to criticize", attested 1953 in Australian and New Zealand slang.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English robishe

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to rubbish using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

rubbish