Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

whatchamacallit

/ˈwʌt͡ʃəməˌkɔlɪt/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.39 in modern English

Syllables: what-cha-ma-call-it
IPA: /ˈwʌt͡ʃəməˌkɔlɪt/

30

Scrabble Score

15

Letters

5

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A metasyntactic term used for any object whose actual name the speaker does not know or cannot remember; a doodad, gizmo, thingamajig, thingy.

Colloquial

Example Sentences

"The Thingamajig and the Wachamacallit."
"You’re—you must be the whatchamacallit, huh? The peer."
"JESSICA: How many times do I have to say it? We were not stealing, Officer. We were just— / MONAHAN: I know. Performing some kind of whatchamacallit deed. Anyhow, they go to the clink, that's what happens to people who filch city property."
"I'm a boy, so when I'm sick, they can call in poohaghooma, Indian doctor. But not Tom Mitchell! No, sir! [We] won't have Tom Mitchell to doctor me! 'Cause whatchamacallit, he always used to doctor me …"
""Think we ought to check this whatchamacallit?" / "No, that doodad over there seems to be the problem.""
"You know, he looked at everybody and everything but not me as if just by letting his eyes rest on me for a moment would let out that he and I are having a whatchamacalit."

Etymology

Univerbation and contraction of what you may call it. United States, 20th century (recorded in 1921).

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈwʌt͡ʃəməˌkɔlɪt/
British English: /ˈwɒtʃəməˌkɔːlɪt/

Usage

Colloquial

Inflected Forms

whatchamacallits (plural) whatchamacallem (plural) whatchamacall'em (plural) what-you-may-call-it (alternative)

Frequently Paired Words

whatchamacallher whatchamacallhim

Synonyms

thingy doodad doohickey dojigger gimmick gizmo gismo gubbins thingamabob thingumabob thingmabob thingamajig

Questions

How do you pronounce whatchamacallit?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈwʌt͡ʃəməˌkɔlɪt/.
What does whatchamacallit mean?: A metasyntactic term used for any object whose actual name the speaker does not know or cannot remember; a doodad, gizmo, thingamajig, thingy.
Where does whatchamacallit come from?: Univerbation and contraction of what you may call it. United States, 20th century (recorded in 1921).

How to pronounce whatchamacallit

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