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Technobabble was formed by combining techno- (meaning "technical or technological") with babble ("continuous meaningless vocal sounds"), and unsurprisingly suggests language which sounds highly technical and is incomprehensible to the listener. Techno- as a combining form has given English speakers a number of interesting words, including but not limited to technocrat, technophile and technophobia, techno-thriller, technopreneur, and even technostructure ("the network of professionally skilled scientists, engineers, and administrators that tends to control the economy"). Techno- itself traces back to the same root word that gave us technology, namely the Greek word technē, meaning "art, craft, or practical skill."
Examples of technobabble in a Sentence
Steve Durbin, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2024
That’s because the plot is a lumpy stew of familiar elements, given minimal narrative clarity despite the reams of expository technobabble spouted by Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Paradox.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 July 2024
Twister built a template that its sequel largely follows: loud and fast-paced but anchored by a reliable ensemble spouting meteorological technobabble amid the chaos.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 18 July 2024
But Hubbard’s own writings are chock-full of technobabble, intermingling actual technical terms with statements that are demonstrably false.
—IEEE Spectrum, 31 Mar. 2024
Humans, the regulatory technobabble reveals, do the strangest things sometimes.
—Ed Niedermeyer, Rolling Stone, 17 Dec. 2023
But between the different models of each edition, their exclusive games and lots of technobabble otherwise, buying a game console is starting to feel as complex as picking a health insurance plan.
—Whitson Gordon, NBC News, 28 Oct. 2020
Lashings of technobabble aside, none of the practical or scientific material in the show seems remotely true or plausible, especially the speed at which things are supposed to happen.
—cleveland, 1 June 2020
Previous SlideNext Slide There's also very little in the way of futuristic technobabble—a hallmark of the franchise since TOS and a major factor in its enduring popularity.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 28 Mar. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'technobabble.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near technobabble
Cite this Entry
“Technobabble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/technobabble. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.
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