rubbish

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   Waste material that is no longer wanted and is thrown away.

   Grammar: Uncountable: no plural and no 'a' before it. Say 'a piece of rubbish', not 'a rubbish'.

   Patterns

   • throw something away as rubbish
   • a pile of rubbish
   • collect the rubbish

   Please put the rubbish in the bin outside.

   The streets were full of rubbish after the festival.

   They collect the rubbish every Tuesday morning.

2. 2noununcountableinformaldisapproving

   Something that is of very poor quality or is completely untrue.

   Grammar: Uncountable and informal; often used after 'be' to criticize an idea, film, excuse, etc.

   Patterns

   • be rubbish
   • talk rubbish
   • a load of rubbish

   That film was complete rubbish – I walked out after ten minutes.

   Don't talk rubbish! You know that's not true.

   He told me his car broke down, but I think it's just rubbish.

3. 3adjectivenot comparableBritishinformaldisapproving

   Of very low quality; very bad.

   Grammar: Used mainly in British English after 'be' or before a noun; not usually compared.

   Patterns

   • be rubbish at something
   • a rubbish idea

   I'm rubbish at remembering names.

   We had a rubbish time because it rained all day.

   That's a rubbish excuse – try again.

Common combinations

household rubbish

Household rubbish should be separated for recycling.

rubbish bin

Throw the apple core in the rubbish bin.

rubbish dump

The old sofa ended up at the rubbish dump.

talk rubbish

Ignore him – he's talking rubbish.

a load of rubbish

The report was a load of rubbish.

Synonyms and how they differ

garbage

American English for waste; use 'garbage' in the US and 'rubbish' in the UK.

trash

Also mainly American; often refers to dry waste like paper and packaging.

nonsense

Use for untrue or silly talk; 'rubbish' is more informal and can also mean physical waste.

Word family

rubbishy adjective

Of poor quality; less common than 'rubbish' as an adjective.

Commonly confused: rubbish or rubble?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “rubbish”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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