Thingummy
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Synonym of thingy: something one cannot remember the name of, or is unable to or does not care to specify precisely.
- 2 something unspecified whose name is either forgotten or not known wordnet
- 3 Synonym of whatshisname: someone one cannot remember the name of.
"Once, in his first term, Cartwright had been bold enough to ask him why he was so clever, […] ‘It’s memory, Cartwright, old dear. Memory, the mother of the Muses . . . at least that’s what thingummy said.’ ‘Who?’ ‘You know, what’s his name, Greek poet chap. Wrote the Theogony . . . what was he called? Begins with an “H”.’ ‘Homer?’ ‘No, dear. Not Homer, the other one. No, it’s gone. Anyway. Memory, that’s the key.’"
Example
More examples"Once, in his first term, Cartwright had been bold enough to ask him why he was so clever, […] ‘It’s memory, Cartwright, old dear. Memory, the mother of the Muses . . . at least that’s what thingummy said.’ ‘Who?’ ‘You know, what’s his name, Greek poet chap. Wrote the Theogony . . . what was he called? Begins with an “H”.’ ‘Homer?’ ‘No, dear. Not Homer, the other one. No, it’s gone. Anyway. Memory, that’s the key.’"
Etymology
From thingum + -y. Compare thingamabob and thingamajig.
More for "thingummy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.