dingbat

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dingbat

/ˈdɪŋbæt/ US

Where it comes from

Unknown, US mid 19th century. The word-puzzle sense comes from the board game Dingbats, which is based on these puzzles. In the sense of a miscellaneous gadget, probably influenced by dingus or its etyma.

noun dingbats

informal A silly, crazy or stupid person. 'Midge was such a dingbat', Jenny Fields wrote in her autobiography, 'that she went to Hawaii for a vacation during World War Two.'
Similar: dingus
A special ornamental typographical symbol, such as a bullet, an arrow, a pointing hand etc. "The compulsive editor, when checking the specs on an article, can't help checking also for such items as initial capital and closing dingbat, if they are used routinely. These decorative items have a way of being forgotten..."
An architectural style of apartment building, where the second storey overhangs an area for parking cars.
A kind of word puzzle involving pictures or typography that hint at the solution. This can be a dingbat, anagram, word puzzle, riddle or other quick warm-up activity and demonstrates to your students that when they come into your lessons, you get them thinking right away.
Similar: rebus
slang Anything that can be thrown or swung with force against something else.
A small device or gadget, the correct term for which is forgotten or unknown.
Similar: dingus, thingamabob, doohickey, Sorted by number of Google hits, widget, hickey, gizmo, thingy, gimmick, thingie, jigger, gismo

Translations

Every language

noun silly, crazy or stupid person

Español	débil mental, idiota
Deutsch	Knallkopf, Knalltüte

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MLA

"dingbat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dingbat. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

dingbat. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dingbat

Chicago

"dingbat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dingbat.

BibTeX

@misc{dingbat_2026,
  title = {dingbat},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dingbat},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}