noun
dingbat
Dingbat (noun) means (informal) A silly or foolish person.
noun
1
(informal) A silly or foolish person.
"The fire department is out here because some dingbat parked in the red zone."
— The Gilmore Girls, season 4 (2003)
2
A small decorative symbol, such as a star or an arrow, used in printing.
3
A style of block of flats where the upper floor juts out over a car-parking area below.
4
A puzzle that uses pictures or the layout of letters to give clues to a word or phrase.
"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."
— Stephen Scoffham, Teaching Geography Creatively (2016)
"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."
— Georgia Holleran, Ian Gilbert (2015)
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Etymology
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.
Synonyms
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Frequently asked questions
What is the meaning of dingbat?
"dingbat" (noun) means (informal) A silly or foolish person.
What is another word for dingbat?
Other words for "dingbat" include dingus, rebus.
What are the different meanings of dingbat?
"dingbat" has 3 main meanings: 1. (informal) A silly or foolish person; 2. A small decorative symbol, such as a star or an arrow, used in printing; 3. A style of block of flats where the upper floor juts out over a car-parking area below.
