Pretentious or foolish talk that sounds impressive but has no real meaning or value; nonsense or empty, exaggerated claims.
Possibly from 'clap' (to applaud) plus 'trap' (a snare), combining around the 1600s—referring to cheap theatrical tricks designed to catch applause from an unsophisticated audience, later extending to any false or nonsensical language.
The word perfectly captures the theater world of the 1600s, where playwrights would deliberately plant 'applause lines'—fake profound statements meant solely to trigger audience clapping—which is why we still call obvious emotional manipulation 'claptrap.'
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