What does thingumbob mean?
Thingumbob is an informal noun used as a catch-all for a person, object, device, or other thing that the speaker cannot or does not want to name precisely. It is especially useful when a particular name is unknown, when a lengthy description would be inconvenient, or when the speaker wants to sound deliberately vague, playful, or exasperated. “Pass me that thingumbob” is more characterful and humorous than a plain description such as “pass me that object,” while still serving the same basic naming function. The word was popularized through Lewis Carroll’s whimsical writing in the late nineteenth century and subsequently became part of broader informal English in Britain and the United States. It can also be used as a humorous coined name for a strange creature, invention, or concept. Although dictionaries generally treat it as informal rather than slang, its tone is familiar and unserious. It appears most naturally in conversation, informal writing, jokes, and parody rather than in formal or technical contexts.
nounAn informal, deliberately vague word for a person, object, device, or other thing whose name the speaker does not know or does not wish to specify.
- An unspecified person, object, device, or other thing, especially one whose name the speaker does not know or wishes to avoid stating.
- An invented or whimsical name used humorously for an object, creature, or concept.
"We used a wooden thingumbob to prop the door open."
"Pass me that thingumbob on the table—the one with the blue handle."
"The children called the peculiar little creature a thingumbob and immediately gave it a whole mythology."
The plural is used when referring to several unspecified objects, people, or devices.
"The drawer was full of little cords, clips, and other thingumbobs."
Lewis Carroll gave this wonderfully evasive word a literary life before it became a fixture of informal speech.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of thingumbob
Thingumbob is generally associated with Lewis Carroll, who used the playful coined word in his late nineteenth-century writing. It belongs to a group of English placeholder expressions built around the word “thing,” alongside forms such as thingamajig and whatchamacallit. Its precise compositional derivation is uncertain, so it is best understood as a whimsical coinage rather than as a word with a securely traceable classical root.
How thingumbob is actually used
Chiefly informal and often humorous. It conveys vagueness or mild exasperation and is unsuitable for formal writing unless used deliberately for comic effect.
Easily confused with thingumbob
The two are largely interchangeable; thingumbob is often the more whimsical or emphatic choice.