thingy
That one doohickey
Thingy is a placeholder word for something whose name you can't recall or don't bother to specify: Hand me that thingy over there, The thingy on the car is broken.
It's casual and vague, often accompanied by pointing or gesturing.
Variants include thingamajig, thingamabob, and whatchamacallit.
Nameless mechanical device
- widgetUnspecified small device
- contraptionImprovised or odd mechanism
- deviceConstructed tool or machine
- gadgetNovel small device
apparatus · mechanism · doohickey · doodad · gimmick · invention · novelty · gewgaw
Stand-in for forgotten names
- whatsitPlaceholder for forgotten names
- doohickeyPlaceholder word for objects
- doodadUnnamed small object
- whositPlaceholder for forgotten name
whatsis · thingumbob · whatsitsname · so-and-so · such-and-such · blank · fill-in-the-blank · unnamed
Unspecified items collectively
- junkWorthless discarded items
- clutterUntidy collection of items
- miscellanyAssorted collection of items
- hodgepodgeConfused, disorderly mixture
jumble · grab-bag · assortment · sundries · detritus · flotsam · rubbish · whatnot
gizmo
Nameless mechanical device
- widgetUnspecified small device
- contraptionImprovised or odd mechanism
- deviceConstructed tool or machine
gadget · apparatus · mechanism · doohickey · doodad · gimmick · invention · novelty · gewgaw · gimcrack
whatchamacallit
Stand-in for forgotten names
- whatsitPlaceholder for forgotten names
- doohickeyPlaceholder word for objects
- doodadUnnamed small object
whosit · whatsis · thingumbob · whatsitsname · so-and-so · such-and-such · blank · fill-in-the-blank · unnamed · unspecified
stuff
Unspecified items collectively
- junkWorthless discarded items
- clutterUntidy collection of items
- miscellanyAssorted collection of items
hodgepodge · jumble · grab-bag · assortment · sundries · detritus · flotsam · rubbish · whatnot · etcetera
- placeholder wordsdoohickey, whatchamacallit, doodad, whatsit
- thingamabobsdoodads, doohickeys, whatsits, whatnot, whatchamacallit
- thingamajigswhatchamacallit, doohickey, doodad, gizmo, widget
- vague wordssomeone, somewhere, sometime, somehow, somewhat
- placeholdersplaceholder, bar, blank, dummy, filler
thingyproper noun
Named person or place
technical term · nomenclature · scientific name · defined term · particular
- sure thingGuaranteed outcome or agreement
- good thingPositive outcome or circumstance
- first thingWhat comes earliest
- seeing thingsPerceiving nonexistent phenomena
- same thing
- see thingsPerceive nonexistent objects
thing, nothing, things, anything, everything, something, thingamajig, nothing's, thingamabob