Rube Goldberg

adjective

having a fantastically complicated, improvised appearance: a Rube Goldberg arrangement of flasks and test tubes.
deviously complex and impractical: a Rube Goldberg scheme for reducing taxes.

Also Goldbergian, Rube Goldbergian.

Origin of Rube Goldberg

1955–60; after Rube (Reuben) Goldberg

Goldberg

[gohld-burg]

noun

Arthur Joseph,1908–90, U.S. jurist, statesman, and diplomat: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1962–65; ambassador to the U.N. 1965–68.
Reuben LuciusRube, 1883–1970, U.S. cartoonist, whose work often depicts deviously complex and impractical inventions.

Word Origin and History for rube goldberg

Rube Goldberg

adj.

1940, from the U.S. cartoonist Reuben Lucius Goldberg (1883-1970) who devised fantastically complex gadgetry to accomplish simple tasks. His British counterpart was Heath Robinson (1872-1944).