Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A magical charm or incantation having the power to ward off disease or disaster.
- n. Foolish or unintelligible talk.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A cabalistic word used in incantations. When written in a manner similar to that shown in the accompanying diagram, so as to be read in different directions, and worn as an amulet, it was supposed to cure certain ailments.
- n. Hence Any word-charm or empty jingle of words.
Wiktionary
- interj. Used to indicate that a magic trick or other illusion has been performed.
- n. Complicated technicalities, jargon that one does not understand much if at all.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A mystical word or collocation of letters written as in the figure. Worn on an amulet it was supposed to ward off fever. At present the word is used chiefly in jest to denote something without meaning; jargon.
WordNet 3.0
- n. gibberish and nonsense
Etymologies
- Late Latin, magical formula. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I came across another source that noted that “abracadabra is derived from an Aramaic phrase (Avarah K’Davarah) meaning, ‘I will create as I speak.’””
“It is not amiss to consider this spell of potency, this abracadabra, that is hung about the necks of the unhappy, not to heal, but to communicate disease.”
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 06 (of 12)
“Answer: "Say 'abracadabra' ten times while holding a rabbit's foot in the left hand at the crack of dawn.”
The Huffington Post: Alemayehu G. Mariam: Mr. Zenawi Goes to College!
“Top picture, Crown Trpupe, the dance drama group performs 'abracadabra'.”
“At the sound of the snapping fingers and his hoarse-voiced "abracadabra," a dirty pot of hot and greasy stew came into existence.”
“The word Abraxas is thought by some to be the origin of the word "abracadabra", though this word also has other sources cited as being its origin.”
“The art, at least in the popular perception, has hardly changed in a century: playing cards; coins; men in their tuxedoes, assisted by scantily clad women and an utterance of "abracadabra," vanishing into thin air.”
“Can you abracadabra me a glass of milk when you do?”
“Headlines have marveled for days—Governor Gone Missing, Governor MIA—but abracadabra, here he is, smack on the wall of the waiting room, his long tan face now framed by the giant flat-screen TV.”
“Wed 11/25/09 7: 29 PM abracadabra: Are you kidding you are a Kris fan along with 90 percent of people posting here.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘abracadabra’.
-
Palabras con una sola vocal
Lista de palabras en español que tienen una sóla vocal y con más de tres sÃlabas.
imprimir, horóscopo, palabras, odontólogo, entender, acababa, abracadabra, joropo, encender, apagar, endeble, neceser and 244 more...
-
effemera's list
words that feel nice in the mouth (mostly)
prestidigitation, flange, ephemeral, smooth, abracadabra, buzz, click, crisp, widget, sprocket, magic, serendipity
-
Whatevah
Stuff that's not categorized yet, because I don't have a category for it, or (more likely) because I'm lazy.
importunate, hector, extirpate, cicatrice, dysgraphia, tarradiddle, tartuffe, tinctorial, swallow-pipe, stownlins, posse comitatus, insightful and 1 more...
-
Words That Can Be Typed Entirely With...
Words made of the following: qwertasdfgzxcvb. I've stood on the shoulders of giants... users mollusque and reesetee made similar lists before I even existed on Wordnik. :)
stewardesses, red tea, waves, axes, wrest, qat, waver, created, dressed, stress, crater, vexes and 50 more...
-
Nonsense
Synonyms of "nonsense"
tomfoolery, balderdash, poppycock, lalapalooza, hullabaloo, hodgepodge, gibberish, shenanigans, hootenanny, jabberwocky, gobbledygook, mummery and 21 more...
-
What's That Pokémon Name?
Words used to create the names of Pokémon, which are usually portmanteaux.
bulb, dinosaur, ivy, venus, char, salamander, squirt, turtle, blast, tortoise, water, caterpillar and 525 more...
-
the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
-
And the last first
Words with the first three or more letters repeated at the end, unless all letters are repeated (for those, see Isograms of lengths six, eight and ten). Overlaps are okay (alfalfa, entente), but wo...
nonphenomenon, underground, bicubic, ionization, microcosmic, nicotinic, interpoint, hotshot, atectate, ingesting, anemovane, physiography and 130 more...
-
colleen's words
yellow, green, pie, blue, fur, people, incense, book, brown, avuncular, mountain, fog and 1316 more...
-
How very mikeropological..
Basically it's just mikeropology's words, but with his username turned into an adjectivally splendid list name.
mikeropology, squoze, anthropromorphism, mullu, spondylus, goobers, hipster, burnt umber, ochre, canvas, lapizure, burnt sienna and 172 more...
-
The braggadocio recipe
A selection of English* words ending with a vowel (except "y", "ea", ie", "ee", "oo", "ea", "ou") that is REALLY pronounced.
My favorite English words, by the way.
The good twin of The ...braggadocio, recipe, encyclopedia, solo, gnu, flu, maybe, apocope, mini, arrhythmia, folio, stereo and 197 more...
-
katiad's Words
exquisite, obnoxious, noxious, extravaganza, whirlwind, whirling, wild, spinster, existential, chaos, zephyr, blasphemy and 310 more...
-
kant's Words
mandrágora, doppelganger, sinestesia, baladí, adriático, chanson, correveidile, angster, dèja vu, otredad, grasshopper, republic and 1074 more...
-
Some Wednesday words
Just another arbitrary list of words that come up for me today, June 20 2007
tutelage, hobby horse, abracadabra, occipital, martinet, margarita, persona, cute, sharp, acute, confabulate, conspire and 97 more...
-
Tawkward
Verbal 'wtf' exchanges; odd moments of conversation and socializing.
somniloquy, bafflegab, syllepsis, sesquipedalian, whinge, divulge, anacoluthon, anaphora, sumpsimus, persiflage, eristic, overtones and 198 more...
-
What Is the Sound of One Hand Typing?
Words you can type with one hand--if you learned how to type formally. Hunt-and-peck method doesn't count. ;-) I'm keeping it to five or more letters to avoid an excessively lengthy list.
<...racecar, start, create, desert, dessert, secret, secrete, sweet, tresses, poppy, puppy, homonym and 141 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for abracadabra.
hernesheir This word is a palindrome of sorts: the pattern of consonants and vowels "reads" the same forwards and backwards -- vccvcvcvccv -- now that's magical.
Another magic word, hocus pocus, is similar: cvcvccvcvc Jul 9, 2010
uselessness Is there an echo in here? Dec 14, 2007
mikeropology A B R A C A D A B R A
A B R A C A D A B R
A B R A C A D A B
A B R A C A D A
A B R A C A D
A B R A C A
A B R A C
A B R A
A B R
A B
A Dec 14, 2007