nothingburger

/ˈnʌθɪŋbɜːɡə/

nothingburger means of less importance than its treatment suggests; insignificant, unimportant; also, bland or unremarkable in appearance or impact.

nothingburger is pronounced /ˈnʌθɪŋbɜːɡə/.

Etymology

The noun is derived from nothing (pronoun, noun) + -burger (suffix forming names of hamburgers served in buns with the addition of specified foodstuffs, or with foodstuffs in place of the usual meat), a metaphorical reference to a burger missing a patty—its most significant component. The word was apparently coined by the American gossip columnist Louella Parsons (1881–1972) in her widely syndicated daily column “Louella’s Move-Go-’Round” of June 1, 1953: see the quotation. The adjective is derived from the noun.

adj

Of less importance than its treatment suggests; insignificant, unimportant; also, bland or unremarkable in appearance or impact.e.g.“Well, I think better a splendid fake than those little-bitty, itsy-poo nothing burger gold dinkies you wear only because they're real.” — 1970, Helen Gurley Brown, Sex and the New Single Girl, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: Bernard Geis Associates, →OCLC, page 186:

noun

An unimportant person; a nobody, a nonentity.e.g.“After all, if it hadn’t been for Sam[uel] Goldwyn Farley [Granger] might very well be a nothingburger. However, I have a hunch this whole arrangement is on a friendly basis.” — 1953 June 1, Louella O[ettinger] Parsons, “Farley Granger Wins His Release—at Last: But Sam Goldwyn Retains an Option to Sign Star again in 18 Months”, in San Francisco Examiner, volume CLXXXXVII, num
Something of less importance than its treatment suggests; also, something which is bland or unremarkable in appearance or impact.
A matter of no concern, especially one that had been of concern; a non-issue.e.g.“The forecasted megastorm turned out to be a huge nothingburger.”

Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).