nothingburger.
An unimportant person; a nobody, a nonentity.
Meaning & usage
An unimportant person; a nobody, a nonentity.
Something of less importance than its treatment suggests; also, something which is bland or unremarkable in appearance or impact.
A matter of no concern, especially one that had been of concern; a non-issue.
The forecasted megastorm turned out to be a huge nothingburger.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Old English nāþing Middle English nothyng English nothing Proto-Indo-European *kónh₂mder. Proto-Indo-European *kónh₂méh₂-der. Proto-Germanic *hanmōder.? Proto-Germanic *hammō Old High German hammeder.? Old High German Hamme Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *bʰérǵʰs? Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *bʰérgʰs? Proto-Germanic *burgz Proto-West Germanic *burg Old High German burg Old High German Hammaburg German Hamburg Proto-Indo-European *wer- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Germanic *warjaną Proto-Germanic *warjaz ▲ Proto-Germanic *-ārijazinflu. Old High German -āri Middle High German -ære German -er German Hamburgerder. English hamburgerclip. English burger English nothingburger The noun is derived from nothing (pronoun, noun) + -burger (suffix forming names of hamburgers served in buns with the addition of specified foodstuffs, or with foodstuffs in place of the usual meat), a metaphorical reference to a burger missing a patty—its most significant component. The word was apparently coined by the American gossip columnist Louella Parsons (1881–1972) in her widely syndicated daily column “Louella’s Move-Go-’Round” of June 1, 1953: see the quotation. The adjective is derived from the noun.
Of less importance than its treatment suggests; insignificant, unimportant; also, bland or unremarkable in appearance or impact.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Old English nāþing Middle English nothyng English nothing Proto-Indo-European *kónh₂mder. Proto-Indo-European *kónh₂méh₂-der. Proto-Germanic *hanmōder.? Proto-Germanic *hammō Old High German hammeder.? Old High German Hamme Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *bʰérǵʰs? Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *bʰérgʰs? Proto-Germanic *burgz Proto-West Germanic *burg Old High German burg Old High German Hammaburg German Hamburg Proto-Indo-European *wer- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Germanic *warjaną Proto-Germanic *warjaz ▲ Proto-Germanic *-ārijazinflu. Old High German -āri Middle High German -ære German -er German Hamburgerder. English hamburgerclip. English burger English nothingburger The noun is derived from nothing (pronoun, noun) + -burger (suffix forming names of hamburgers served in buns with the addition of specified foodstuffs, or with foodstuffs in place of the usual meat), a metaphorical reference to a burger missing a patty—its most significant component. The word was apparently coined by the American gossip columnist Louella Parsons (1881–1972) in her widely syndicated daily column “Louella’s Move-Go-’Round” of June 1, 1953: see the quotation. The adjective is derived from the noun.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.