dingbat
📖 Definitions
noun
1. An eccentric or crazy person.
2. An ornamental typographical symbol, such as ✲, ❏, ☛, ♥.
3. An object, such as a brick, used as a missile.
4. A gadget or an object whose name is unknown or forgotten. Aka, thingamajig, gizmo, etc.
5. A two- to three-story boxy apartment building with parking spaces directly under it.
adjective
Eccentric or crazy.
💬 Usage Examples
“In Arizona, for example, Mr McCain faces a tough primary battle against a dingbat [J.D. Hayworth] who frets about man-on-horse nuptials.” United States: The Anti-Crist; The Economist (London, UK); Apr 3, 2010. “When something blows, you don’t muck around trying to find one transistor or whatever the little dingbat is.” Poul Anderson; Tales of the Flying Mountains; Collier; 1971. “’It wasn’t an awareness of its seismic vulnerability that stopped the expansion of dingbats.
It was more to do with the price of land,’ Hess said.” Rosanna Xia & Jon Schleuss; Many Buildings Likely Need Quake Retrofit; Los Angeles Times; Apr 16, 2016.