Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

what's-his-name

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.04 in modern English

Syllables: what's-his--name
IPA

23

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

pron

A man whose identity is unknown or forgotten (especially when better-known to the listener).

Informal

noun

A passing (male) acquaintance of no importance or relevance.

Derogatory; Informal

Example Sentences

"Near-synonyms: what's-his-face (what's-her-face, what's-their-face); whatchamacallhim (whatchamacallher); you-know-who; so-and-so; see also Thesaurus:what's-their-name"
"I left his arm that night myself / For what's-his-name's, the new prose-poet / Who wrote the book there, on the shelf"
"And 'St—'st—'st and What's-his-name, and also You-know-who— / The task of filling up the blanks I'd rather leave to you."

Etymology

Univerbation of what's + his + name.

Usage

Inflected Forms

what's-their-names (plural) what'shisname (alternative) whatshisname (alternative) what's-'is-name (alternative) what's'isname (alternative) what'sisname (alternative) whats'isname (alternative) whatsisname (alternative) whatsename (alternative) whasisname (alternative) who's-his-name (alternative) who'shisname (alternative)

Synonyms

what's-his-face whatchamacallhim you-know-who so-and-so

Questions

What does what's-his-name mean?: A man whose identity is unknown or forgotten (especially when better-known to the listener).
Where does what's-his-name come from?: Univerbation of what's + his + name.

How to pronounce what's-his-name

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