A trendy word or phrase that sounds important but may lack real meaning or substance, often used in business or marketing to impress people.
Compound word from 'buzz' (the excited talk or attention something generates) plus 'word' (from Old English and Germanic roots). The term emerged in the mid-20th century to describe the jargon of business and technology that seemed more impressive than meaningful.
Buzzwords are linguistic camouflage—'synergize,' 'paradigm shift,' 'disruptive innovation'—they make simple ideas sound revolutionary and make vague ideas sound precise. Ironically, the word 'buzzword' itself became a buzzword, so we now need *meta-buzzwords* to describe buzzwords.
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