I. ˈnän-ˌsen(t)s, ˈnän(t)-sən(t)s noun
Date: 1614
1.
a. : words or language having no meaning or conveying no intelligible ideas
b.
(1) : language, conduct, or an idea that is absurd or contrary to good sense
(2) : an instance of absurd action
2.
a. : things of no importance or value : trifles
b. : affected or impudent conduct
took no nonsense from subordinates
3. : genetic information consisting of one or more codons that do not code for any amino acid and usually cause termination of the molecular chain in protein synthesis
• non·sen·si·cal ˌnän-ˈsen(t)-si-kəl adjective
• non·sen·si·cal·ly -k(ə-)lē adverb
• non·sen·si·cal·ness -kəl-nəs noun
II. adjective
Date: 1799
1. : consisting of an arbitrary grouping of speech sounds or symbols
ˈshrȯg-ˌthī-əmpth is a nonsense word
a nonsense syllable
2. : consisting of one or more codons that are genetic nonsense — compare antisense , missense