claptrapn.
/ˈklaptrap/, U.S. /ˈklæpˌtræp/ 1. (with plural) A trick or device to catch applause; an expression designed to elicit applause.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > applause > [noun] > device to catch applause
claptrap1727
1727–31 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II. A Clap Trap..a trap to catch a clap by way of applause from the spectators at a play.
1788 C. Dibdin Musical Tour lxiii. 261 Sentiments, which, by the theatrical people, are known by the name of clap traps.
1799 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) I. 67 There will be no clap-traps, nothing about ‘Britannia rule the Waves’.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Bk. Snobs xx Don't..vent claptraps about your own virtue.
2. (without a or plural) Language designed to catch applause; cheap showy sentiment. In modern use passing into sense ‘nonsense, rubbish’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > exaggeration, hyperbole > [noun]
flattering?c1225
supersault1503
exaggeration1565
exsuperation1623
transcendence1625
aggravation1628
superlationa1637
overreach1653
superjection1654
fulsomeness1684
claptrap1819
overcolouring1843
mirch masala1980
mirch1985
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > insincere or pretentious talk > [noun]
flash1605
sniffling1653
canting1659
cant1710
galbanum1764
gas1793
blarney1796
gammon1805
slum1812
claptrap1819
flam1825
glittering generality1849
bull's wool1850
eyewash1857
bunkum1862
hot air1873
kid1874
fustian1880
flubdub1888
bull1914
oil1917
blah1918
drip1919
piss and wind1922
banana-oil1927
flannel1927
crud1943
old talk1956
ole talk1964
okey-doke1969
yada yada1991
1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto II cxxiv. 181 I hate..that air Of clap-trap, which your recent poets prize.
1845 Punch Nov. 215/1 Dan..fancies he covers his own astounding selfishness and indifference by this brutal clap~trap.
1880 B. Disraeli Endymion II. xxi. 206 He disdained all cant and clap-trap.
1895 Daily News 30 May 2/3 That is very eloquent but it is what I call vicious and wicked clap trap.
1915 A. Huxley Let. Nov. (1969) 86 How much better this book wd. have been had she made it a study of don-life in the 80's..instead of the usual politico-Debrett clap-trap.
1955 Times 26 Aug. 7/5 Cannot our educationists turn away from the pretentious claptrap put about during the past 20 years..?
1966 Illustr. London News 30 July 28/2 The piece at one point turns to deplorable dramatic claptrap.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sharp or hard sound > [noun] > clap or clop > device for
claptrap1847
slapstick1896
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > applause > [noun] > device for making applause
claptrap1847
1847 J. Craig New Universal Dict. Clap-trap..a kind of clapper for making a noise in theatres.
1864 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Clap-trap, a contrivance for clapping in theaters.
1866 Cincinnati Gaz. in Public Opinion 24 Feb. A street juggler..sings some ditty to the sound of clap-traps which he swings or works in his hand.
4. attributive (in senses 1, 2), passing into true adjectival use; = claptrappy adj. at Derivatives.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > applause > [adjective] > device to catch applause
claptrap1815
1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 124 (note) The Clap-Trap system which he has uniformly adopted during..his theatrical career.
1842 G. S. Faber Provinc. Lett. (1844) II. 187 They triumphantly draw the clap-trap conclusion, that, etc.
1855 G. Brimley Ess. (1858) i. 76 Claptrap appeals to the war-feeling of the day.
1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues III. 89 A regular claptrap orator.
1887 Spectator 7 May 622/1 The subject is more or less clap-trap.
Derivatives
claptrappery n. Apparently an isolated use.
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1820 S. T. Coleridge Lett. I. xi. 118 Her plebicolar Clap-Trapperies.
claptrappily adv. Apparently an isolated use.
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1880 Punch 27 Dec. 306/2 Till ‘Goodwill’ sound verily, Cheerily, not claptrappily.
claptrappish adj.
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1809 R. Southey in C. C. Southey Life & Corr. R. Southey (1850) III. 205 Did I not tell you it [a passage in Kehama] was clap-trappish?
1865 Reader 2 Dec. 636/2 The language being either claptrappish or vapid.
claptrappy adj. Apparently an isolated use.
ΚΠ
1873 Spectator 4 Oct. Mr. Chamberlain's clap-trappy programme of a Free Church, a Free School, Free Labour, and Free Land.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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