thingy

[thing-ee]

noun

plural

thingies 

1. Facetious.,  any small item whose name is unknown or forgotten.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of inanimate objects.

Word History and Origins

Origin of thingy¹

1885–90 thingy for def. 1; 1890–95 thingy for def. 2; thing ¹ + -y ², -y ¹

Example Sentences

I inherited that as part of my thingy.

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About that whatever-it-is tournament thingy, he would have said, not in his rafters.

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“How come the cars can’t fly where they want? Why do they have to use the tunnel thingies?”

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“I don’t think he had much spare time, but when he did, he would laugh around with his buds or ride his motorcycle thingy,” said Smith, the fire major.

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I needed a do-over on three through five, but made it through those as well — with the exception of the rolling log thingy in the middle of course No. 4.

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When To Use

What does thingy mean?

Whachamacallit 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 thingy here. Thingy is sometimes used even if you know the name of the thing you’re referring to, as in I’ve got a whole boxful of these thingies—take as many as you want. The word is also sometimes used to refer to things that are not physical objects, such as events, types of media, or abstract concepts.Thingy is often used with a modifier describing the kind of thing, as in Where’s that plastic thingy? or I have to attend a work thingy tonight. The word thinger can be used in the same way. There are several other similarly informal words that are used in the same way, including thingamajig, thingamabob, thingy, whachamacallit, whatsit, doohickey, and doodad.Example: My kids got me one of those thingies that track your steps. What’s it called? A stepometer?