#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)