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Goldbergian

American  
[gohld-bur-gee-uhn] / goʊldˈbɜr gi ən /

adjective

  1. Rube Goldberg.


Etymology

Origin of Goldbergian

Goldberg + -ian


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The show similarly employs hilariously elaborate Rube Goldbergian setups.

From The New Yorker ● Jul. 25, 2018

One of the film’s dystopian curiosities, the Billows Feeding Machine, invented by Mr. J. Widdecombe Billows, has a distinctly Rube Goldbergian quality to it — this is likely no coincidence, as Goldberg and Chaplin were friends.

From The Verge ● Apr. 22, 2015

What they came up with was a Rube Goldbergian system that strips out personally identifiable information from the databases at Facebook, Datalogix, and the major retailers while still matching people and their purchases.

From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2013

During the 2011 Venice Biennale, he organized 40 children to create a Goldbergian plant-watering device in the shade of the Greenhouse at the Venice Giardini.

From New York Times ● Jan. 6, 2012

The Bijou offered entertainment of the cigar-box tramp variety, interspersed with trick bicyclists, soubrettes in slightly soiled pink, trained seals, and Family Fours with lumpy legs who tossed each other about and struck Goldbergian attitudes.

From Cheerful—By Request by Edna Ferber

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