dingus

American  

[ding-guhs] / ˈdɪŋ gəs /

noun

Informal.

plural

dinguses

1. a gadget, device, or object whose name is unknown or forgotten.

   We're missing the little dingus that makes the cable work.

2. a foolish, stupid, or inept person; doofus.

   I'm a complete dingus when it comes to math.

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Usage

What does dingus mean? Dingus is a very informal word for an object whose name you don’t know, have forgotten, or can’t recall at the moment.It’s often used to refer to gadgets or parts of things that might not even have a commonly known name, as in Before we attach the bracket, we have to insert this dingus here. There are several other similarly informal words that are used in the same way , including thingy, thingamajig, thingamabob, doohickey, doodad, whachamacallit, and whatsit.Example: My kids got me one of those dinguses that track your steps. What’s it called? A stepometer?

Etymology

Origin of dingus

First recorded in 1870–75; from Dutch dinges or its source, German Dinges, probably originally genitive, with partitive value, of Ding thing ¹

Example Sentences

Also: What kind of dingus gets mugged on Fifth Avenue?

From Salon • Mar. 23, 2026

Instead, I had my colleague Alice Newcome-Beill, who is not a dingus on two wheels, take the Pro out for a spin.

From The Verge • Sep. 7, 2022

I took a new job right before the pandemic and my boss is a complete dingus.

From New York Times • Aug. 13, 2021

And then get another dingus that will, as one character puts it, “reboot the world order.”

From Washington Post • Jun. 22, 2021

The French telephone resembles a dingus for curling the hair.

From Europe Revised by Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)