Wiktionary

bullshit

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From bull +‎ shit. Figurative use as a noun referring to useless or untrue information is attested from the 1910s.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bullshit (uncountable)

  2. (vulgar, literally) Feces produced by a bull.
    Hypernyms: manure; excrement, shit
    Coordinate terms: (livestock manures) goatshit, horseshit, pigshit, sheepshit
    Near-synonyms: cowshit, cowpie
    • 2016 November 6, “Multilevel Marketing”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 29, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:
      Oh, I get it! So it's not a pyramid, it's just pyramid-shaped. You know, like a Dorito, or an Angry Bird, or just a pile of bullshit.
  4. Any assertions or information that are either false or misleading.
    Synonyms: BS, horseshit; see also Thesaurus:bullshit
    2. (vulgar, slang, usual sense) Statements that are false or exaggerated to impress or cheat the listener.
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonsense
      Don't pay any attention to him. He talks a lot of bullshit.
      He wrote loads of bullshit in the science exam.
      • 1917, Ray Rigby, Jacksons War, W.H. Allen, published 1967, page 88:
        Christ, we’ve done well, we’ve lost every battle so far, so we have to hold on to Tobruk and claim it as a victory or something. It’s all bullshit. Tobruk’s not worth a light.
      • 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC:
        The Illusive Man: Shepard. You're making a habit of costing me more than time and money.
        Shepard: I'm sorry, I'm having trouble hearing you. I'm getting a lot of bullshit on this line.
      • 2025 July 16, Kevin Liptak and Sarah Ferris, “Trump lashes out at ‘weaklings’ who believe Epstein ‘bullsh*t’ amid building GOP pressure to release documents”, in CNN‎[1]:
        “Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker,” Trump wrote in a missive on Truth Social. “They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years.”
    4. (vulgar, slang) Statements that are transparently or offensively false.
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:falsehood, Thesaurus:lie
      That's total bullshit! I called your office and they said that you didn't come in!
      Fucking load of bullshit! You smashed his skull and dropped the F-bomb at him, and now you're claiming that he assaulted you?!
    6. (rhetoric) Statements that are intentionally misleading, whether true or not.
    8. (philosophy) Statements made without regard for their truth value. [from 1980s]
      Synonyms: nonsense; see also Thesaurus:nonsense
      • 2002, G.A. Cohen, “Deeper into bullshit”, in Sarah Buss, Lee Overton, editors, Contours of Agency: Essays on Themes from Harry Frankfurt, page 333:
        I focus on unclarifiable unclarity in particular in preparation for a further inquiry into bullshit that addresses the question why so much of that particular kind of bullshit is produced in France. This kind of academic bullshit […] comes close to being celebrated for its very unclarity by some of its producers and consumers.
      • 2005, Harry Frankfurt, On Bullshit:
        Respect for the truth and a concern for the truth are among the foundations for civilization. I was for a long time disturbed by the lack of respect for the truth that I observed... bullshit is one of the deformities of these values.
  6. (vulgar, slang) Synonym of shit (any stuff, especially when viewed negatively or with collegial vulgarity).
    These rules cover how to do your laundry, how to fold your shirts, how to shine your shoes... You know, all that bullshit.
    • 1975, “Fight the Power (Part 1 & 2)”, in The Heat Is On, performed by The Isley Brothers:
      And when I rolled with the punches I got knocked on the ground
      By all this bullshit going down
    • 2017 December 1, Tom Breihan, “Mad Max: Fury Road might already be the best action movie ever made”, in The Onion AV Club‎[2], archived from the original on 7 March 2022:
      We’ve been settling for half-assed bullshit for too long.
  8. (card games, possibly vulgar) A card game in which players try to discard their hands first, following rules that encourage bluffing, calling others' bluffs, and penalizing others by tricking them into inaccurate accusations.
    Synonyms: cheat, I doubt it, banana split
    Anyone want to play a few hands of bullshit?
    • 2005, Scott Berkun, The Art of Project Management, page 260:
      In PM parlance, what I did in this story was call bullshit. This is in reference to the card game Bullshit, where you win if you get rid of all the cards in your hand. […] So, if at any time a another player thinks the first player is lying, she can “call bullshit”
    • 2017, Katey Lovell, Joe and Clara's Christmas Countdown, page 121:
      The kids were surprisingly into Scrabble at the moment. It made a change from their last obsession with the card game Bullshit.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → Czech: bulšit

Translations

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See also

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Adjective

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bullshit (comparative more bullshit, superlative most bullshit)

  1. (vulgar, slang) Absurd, irrational, or nonsensical (most often said of speech, information, or content).
    a bullshit job
    That’s the most bullshit excuse I’ve ever heard.

Verb

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bullshit (third-person singular simple present bullshits, present participle bullshitting, simple past and past participle bullshitted or bullshit or (rare) bullshat) (vulgar, slang)

  1. (ambitransitive) To tell lies, exaggerate; to mislead; to deceive.
    I think you’re bullshitting. Let’s just call your office and see if you even came in.
    You’re bullshitting me. I called your office and you never even came in.
    • 1982, Stanley Goff, Robert Sanders, Clark Smith, Brothers, black soldiers in the Nam, page 32:
      He said, “I might as well give it to you straight; you don’t want me bullshitting around with you.” I said, “Nope.”
    • 2004, Supreme Court of the United States, quoting Michael Crawford, Crawford v. Washington, 541 US 36:
      She had told me that he had tried something with her before. Someone else had to fight him off her and she got away and I wasn't sure if I believed it cuz, I don't know, she's bullshitted me a few times
  2. (intransitive) To have casual conversation with no real point; to shoot the breeze.
    I will probably just go and bullshit with Joe for a while.
    • 1968, Gavin Lambert, A Case for the Angels, page 70:
      His eyelids flickered. “No. No one special here, just Octavia, Rosemary, Mark, Andy and Jim. Spent most of the time bullshitting with Jim.”
    • 1987, Sidney Lawrence, Roger Brown, Roger Brown, exhibition catalog, page 84:
      The lute player would often wander by while these artists bullshat about the wonders of the abstract style. He was fascinated by their word games and mental crap about abstraction.
    • 2002, George Bielma, A Gathering of Eagles, page 21:
      As Franco and the squad leader bullshitted while drinking their beers, they suddenly heard a close heavy thump hit the ground nearby, right away hearing Hicks and the other guy break out in laughter!
  3. (intransitive) To come up with on the spot; to improvise.
    We just went on stage and bullshitted the whole concert because we didn’t know any songs.

Synonyms

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  • (all senses): crap (Indian English)

Translations

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Translations to be checked

Interjection

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bullshit

  2. (vulgar, slang) An expression of disbelief at what one has just heard.

Synonyms

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Descendants

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “bullshit n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present.

Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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    Borrowed from English bullshit.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    bullshit f (uncountable)

    1. (North America, colloquial) bullshit

    Norwegian Nynorsk

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    Alternative forms

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from English bullshit. In oral use since 1950-s or even before (written form attested in Norwegian Bokmål source as bullskitt in 1959).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    bullshit m (definite singular bullshiten, uncountable)
    bullshit n (definite singular bullshitet, uncountable)

    1. (slang) false information
      Synonyms: løgn, skrøne, tull, tøys
    2. (slang) irritating or useless object
      Synonyms: drit, faenskap, skit
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