dingus

[ding-guhs]

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dingus¹

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

When To Use

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?