''hogwash'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260817195045-00-⌔

hogwash - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

hogwash (usually uncountable, plural hogwashes)

• (informal, figurative) Foolish talk or writing; nonsense.
  • ✤ Synonyms: hogshit, bullshit; see also Thesaurus: nonsense
  • ✤ We have more faith in the average American than that. It’s not true that Americans love hogwash — it’s that hogwash inundates Americans, whether they want it or not! Some Americans want the truth— they just haven’t been able to find it because it is drowned out by hogwash.¹
  • ✤ Diplomatic hogwash aside, ‘efficiency and effectiveness’ have nothing to do with the shutting of the Consulate. The decision is but a continuation of successive US measures aimed at “taking Jerusalem off the table” – as per Trump’s own words - of any future negotiations.²
• (literal) A mixture of solid and liquid food scraps fed to pigs; swill. [from mid 15th c.]
  • ✤ Synonyms: slop, slops, swill

Etymology

From Middle English ﹡hoggewasch (found only as Middle English hoggyswasch (“refuse of the kitchen for feeding pigs”, literally “hog’s wash”)), equivalent to hog +‎ wash.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈhɒɡ.wɒʃ/
• (General American) IPA: /ˈhɔɡ.wɑʃ/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA: /ˈhɑɡ.wɑʃ/
  • Audio (US, cot–caught merger): 🔊
• Rhymes: -ɒɡwɒʃ

Printed 2026-08-17.

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Footnotes

1. 2016, T. Colin Campbell, Thomas M. Campbell, The China Study: Revised and Expanded Edition, BenBella Books, Inc., page 214: ↩

2. 2019 March 14, Ramzy Baroud, “Chasing mirages: What are Palestinians doing to combat ‘Deal of the Century’?”, in Ma’an News ‎${}^{[1]}$, archived from the original on 30 March 2019: ↩