hot air
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hot air
Lies, exaggerations, or nonsense. Oh, you can't believe a word that guy says—he's full of hot air. That station broadcasts nothing but a bunch of hot air.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
hot air
Empty, exaggerated talk, as in That last speech of his was pure hot air. It is also put as full of hot air, as in Pay no attention to Howard-he's full of hot air. This metaphoric term transfers heated air to vaporous talk. [Late 1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
hot air
COMMON If something that someone says or writes is hot air, it is not sincere. All their talk about co-operation is just so much hot air. There are still endless disputes. Parliament is often full of hot air, mock insults and fake hostility.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
hot air
empty talk that is intended to impress. 1998 Times If a chief executive is convinced that a day spent hot-air ballooning is a more effective way of motivating the troops than a lot of hot air from him or her, then anything goes.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
hot ˈair
(informal) impressive but worthless or empty promises: Don’t believe anything she says. It’s all hot air.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
hot air
n. boasting; lying; nonsense. That’s just a lot of hot air. Ignore it.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
hot air
Empty boasting, pretentious talk; also, verbal nonsense. The term presumably refers to exhaling while pontificating. Mark Twain used it in The Gilded Age (1873): “The most airy schemes inflated the hot air of the Capital,” and indeed the term is often used with reference to politicians.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer