Dingbat

Quick meaning: Dingbat is a noun meaning (informal) A silly, crazy or stupid person.

Meaning

(informal) A silly, crazy or stupid person.

More Meanings

1. (typography) A special ornamental typographical symbol, such as a bullet, an arrow, a pointing hand etc.
2. (architecture) An architectural style of apartment building, where the second storey overhangs an area for parking cars.
3. A kind of word puzzle involving pictures or typography that hint at the solution.
4. A small device or gadget, the correct term for which is forgotten or unknown.
5. (slang) Anything that can be thrown or swung with force against something else.

Example Sentences

I hung around the older crews while they sling smack to dingbats

The fire department is out here because some dingbat parked in the red zone.

'Midge was such a dingbat', Jenny Fields wrote in her autobiography, 'that she went to Hawaii for a vacation during World War Two.'

A dingbat is a kind of picture puzzle. Each picture represents a word, phrase or name, and the picture can often be supplemented with a couple of letters to assist in the guessing.

Word Forms

• dingbats

Synonyms for dingbat

Depending on context, synonyms include dingus, rebus, thingamabob, doohickey, widget, hickey.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include ninny, bullet, batsicle, dimbus, moonbat, ding-a-ling.

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