word salad
noun
1
psychology
: unintelligible, extremely disorganized speech or writing manifested as a symptom of a mental disorder (such as schizophrenia)
Damage to Wernicke's area can result in the loss of semantic associations. … Trying to speak results in garbled, nonsensical juxtapositions that neuroscientists call "word salad".—Duncan Graham-Rowe
2
: a string of empty, incoherent, unintelligible, or nonsensical words or comments
In the moments when the debate wasn't in circus form it seemed very conventional and very one-sided, with one candidate who could give complete, coherent and informed answers about issues and the other who specialized in word salad.—Robert Schlesinger
… composed an essay that was a word salad of solemn academic jargon.—George Will
Cite this Entry
“Word salad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/word%20salad. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.
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