MacGuffin

American  

[muh-guhf-in] / məˈgʌf ɪn /

Or McGuffin

noun

1. a plot device in a work of fiction, often a physical object, that drives the plot forward without factoring into the story’s resolution.

   The statue in The Maltese Falcon is the most well-known example of a MacGuffin in cinema.

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Etymology

Origin of MacGuffin

First recorded in 1935–40; probably from the surname MacGuffin and popularized by Alfred Hitchcock

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

MacGuffin

It features a MacGuffin, a garish gold bracelet passed down from one couple to the next, from all walks of New York life, depicted in starkly minimal sets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

The airbag issue is a bit of a MacGuffin.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

This sequence is ostensibly there to introduce the film’s MacGuffin, Archimedes Antikythera, a real celestial calculation machine with extraordinary predictive capabilities that in the film is bestowed with some otherworldly powers.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 27, 2023

Another structural problem is the globe-hopping quest for the Grail, which Diamantopoulos’s character calls the “most overused MacGuffin ever,” one of several pre-emptive meta-critiques.

From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2023

She posted these great rambling essays about her search for Halliday’s egg, which she called a “maddening MacGuffin hunt.”

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline