cockamamie
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Ridiculous, absurd, or nonsensical: Describes something that is so foolish, implausible, or poorly conceived that it invites disbelief or laughter.
- Preposterous or ludicrous: Often used to characterize ideas, plans, stories, or excuses that are clearly silly or lacking in sense.
Examples of Usage
- Adjective:
- He gave me some cockamamie excuse about his car being abducted by aliens.
- The company's new marketing strategy seems utterly cockamamie to the experienced staff.
- Don't believe that cockamamie story; it's full of holes.
Advanced Usage
Used for emphasis: The word often carries a tone of dismissive contempt or amused exasperation, highlighting the speaker's judgment that something is not just wrong but foolishly so.
- After listening to his cockamamie theory for an hour, I had to leave the room.
Informal register: "Cockamamie" is primarily used in informal, conversational English, particularly in American English. It is less common in formal writing.
Variants and Related Words
- Cockamamy: An alternative, less common spelling of the same adjective.
- That's a cockamamy idea if I've ever heard one.
Synonyms
- Absurd: Wildly unreasonable, illogical, or inappropriate.
- Preposterous: Contrary to reason or common sense; utterly absurd or ridiculous.
- Ludicrous: So foolish, unreasonable, or out of place as to be amusing.
- Asinine: Extremely stupid or foolish.
Idioms and Common Phrases
(While "cockamamie" itself is not typically part of a larger idiom, it is commonly used in phrases that describe nonsensical things.) - A cockamamie idea/plan/story/excuse: The standard collocation, used to label the specific thing as ridiculous. - She came up with a cockamamie plan to get rich by selling bottled moonlight.
Adjective
- ludicrous, foolish
- gave me a cockamamie reason for not going
- wore a goofy hat
- a silly idea
- some wacky plan for selling more books