Rubbish Is Both Waste and a Verdict
Rubbish is household waste in British English. It is also an adjective meaning bad and a verb meaning to criticise, which is very British indeed.
Rubbish is waste material, and in British English it does three jobs. It is a noun for refuse, an adjective meaning poor quality — *the film was rubbish* — and a verb meaning to dismiss something scornfully: *the report was rubbished by ministers*. American English uses garbage or trash for the noun and none of the rest.
- Waste material. *Put the rubbish out.*
- Nonsense. *He talks rubbish.*
- Very poor (adjective). *A rubbish idea.*
- To criticise harshly (verb). *They rubbished the plan.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | rubbish | Household rubbish. |
| Adjective | rubbish | A rubbish film. |
| Verb | rubbish | Rubbished the idea. |
| Compound | rubbish bin | The rubbish bin. |
| American | garbage / trash | Take out the trash. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The rubbish is collected on Thursdays.Uncountable.
- That is complete rubbish.Nonsense.
- He was rubbish at maths.Informal British adjective.
Waste words by region
- Rubbish — British, general waste
- Garbage — American, originally food waste
- Trash — American, originally dry waste
- Refuse — the formal municipal word
- Litter — waste dropped in public
From Anglo-French *rubbous*, of uncertain origin, possibly related to *rubble*. The adjective and verb are twentieth-century British developments.
Is *rubbish* an adjective?
In British informal English, yes: a rubbish result. It is not standard in formal writing.
Rubbish or refuse?
Refuse is the formal word used by councils. Rubbish is what everyone actually says.