thingummy
That forgotten thing
Thingummy is a placeholder word for something whose name you can't recall or don't know: Hand me that thingummy over there.
It belongs to a family of similar words—thingamajig, thingamabob, whatchamacallit—all serving the same function of filling in when the real word escapes you.
More common in British English.
Nameless mechanical device
- widgetUnspecified small device
- gadgetNovel small device
- contraptionImprovised or odd mechanism
- deviceConstructed tool or machine
doohickey · doodad · apparatus · mechanism · gimcrack · gewgaw · knickknack · trinket
Stand-in for forgotten names
- whatsisPlaceholder for forgotten name
- whatsitPlaceholder for forgotten names
- doohickeyPlaceholder word for objects
- doodadUnnamed small object
dingus · whatsitsname · gubbins · oojah · whatnot · so-and-so · such-and-such · you-know-what
gizmo
Nameless mechanical device
- widgetUnspecified small device
- gadgetNovel small device
- contraptionImprovised or odd mechanism
device · doohickey · doodad · apparatus · mechanism · gimcrack · gewgaw · knickknack · trinket · novelty
whatchamacallit
Stand-in for forgotten names
- whatsisPlaceholder for forgotten name
- whatsitPlaceholder for forgotten names
- doohickeyPlaceholder word for objects
doodad · dingus · whatsitsname · gubbins · oojah · whatnot · so-and-so · such-and-such · you-know-what
balderdash
Senseless talk or writing
poppycock · codswallop · claptrap · flapdoodle · bunkum · hooey · tommyrot · gibberish · drivel · rubbish
- placeholder wordsdoohickey, whatchamacallit, doodad, whatsit
- thingamabobsthingies, doodads, doohickeys, whatsits, whatnot
- thingamajigswhatchamacallit, doohickey, doodad, gizmo, widget
- placeholdersplaceholder, bar, blank, dummy, filler
thingummyproper noun
Named person or place
technical term · nomenclature · scientific name · trademark · label