chartjunk means unnecessary or distracting visual elements included in charts and graphs. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 91 out of 100.
Why “chartjunk” is a great word
CHARTJUNK — [Noun] Superfluous and obfuscating visual elements in charts and graphs that distract from or obscure the underlying data. Coined in 1983 by Edward Tufte from the straightforward compound of “chart” and “junk.” Unlike "data-ink" (the essential, non-erasable core of information) or "visual clutter" (a general atmospheric haze of excess), chartjunk is a specific sin of commission—a decorative betrayal of quantitative truth. It is the gratuitous three-dimensional extrusion of a simple bar, the garish cross-hatching bleeding across a pie slice, or the cheerful clip-art crowding a graph’s corner; each a testament to our fear of emptiness and our compulsion to ornament clarity into confusion.
noun
- Unnecessary or distracting visual elements included in charts and graphs.