Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget

#517. [Absence of meaning.] Unmeaningness.—N. meaninglessness, unmeaningness &c. adj[obs3].; scrabble. empty sound, dead letter, vox et praeterea nihil[Lat]; "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"; "sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." nonsense, utter nonsense, gibberish; jargon, jabber, mere words, hocus-pocus, fustian, rant, bombast, balderdash, palaver, flummery, verbiage, babble, baverdage, baragouin[obs3], platitude, niaiserie[obs3]; inanity; flap-doodle; rigmarole, rodomontade; truism; nugae canorae[Lat]; twaddle, twattle, fudge, trash, garbage, humbug; poppy-cock [U.S.]; stuff, stuff and nonsense; bosh, rubbish, moonshine, wish-wash, fiddle-faddle; absurdity &c. 497; vagueness &c. (unintelligibility) 519. [routine or reflexive statements without substantive thought, esp. legal] boilerplate. V. mean nothing; be unmeaning &c. adj.; twaddle, quibble, scrabble. Adj. unmeaning; meaningless, senseless; nonsensical; void of sense &c. 516. inexpressive, unexpressive; vacant; not significant &c. 516; insignificant. trashy, washy, trumpery, trivial, fiddle-faddle, twaddling, quibbling. unmeant, not expressed; tacit &c. (latent) 526. inexpressible, undefinable, incommunicable. #518. Intelligibility.—N. intelligibility; clearness, explicitness &c. adj.; lucidity, comprehensibility, perspicuity; legibility, plain speaking &c. (manifestation) 525; precision &c. 494; θωνᾶντα συνετοῖσι[Grk]; a word to the wise. V. be intelligible &c. adj.; speak for itself, speak volumes; tell its own tale, lie on the surface. render intelligible &c. adj.; popularize, simplify, clear up; elucidate &c. (explain) 522. understand, comprehend, take, take in; catch, grasp, follow, collect, master, make out; see with half an eye, see daylight, see one's way; enter into the ideas of; come to an understanding. Adj. intelligible; clear, clear as day, clear as noonday; lucid; perspicuous, transpicuous[obs3]; luminous, transparent. easily understood, easy to understand, for the million, intelligible to the meanest capacity, popularized. plain, distinct, explicit; positive; definite &c. (precise) 494. graphic; expressive &c. (meaning) 516; illustrative &c. (explanatory) 522. unambiguous, unequivocal, unmistakable &c. (manifest) 525; unconfused; legible, recognizable; obvious &c. 525. Adv. in plain terms, in plain words, in plain English. Phr. he that runs may read &c. (manifest) 525. #519. Unintelligibility.—N. unintelligibility; incomprehensibility, imperspicuity[obs3]; inconceivableness, vagueness &c. adj.; obscurity; ambiguity &c. 520; doubtful meaning; uncertainty &c. 475; perplexity &c. (confusion) 59; spinosity[obs3]; obscurum per obscurius[Lat]; mystification &c. (concealment) 528; latency &c. 526; transcendentalism. paradox, oxymoron; riddle, enigma, puzzle &c. (secret) 533; diagnus vindice nodus[Lat]; sealed book; steganography[obs3], freemasonry. pons asinorum[Lat], asses' bridge; high Dutch, Greek, Hebrew; jargon &c. (unmeaning) 517. V. be unintelligible &c. adj.; require explanation &c. 522; have a doubtful meaning, pass comprehension. render unintelligible &c. adj.; conceal &c 528; darken &c. 421; confuse &c. (derange) 61; perplex &c. (bewilder)