whatsit

noun

what·​sit

ˈ(h)wät-sət,

ˈ(h)wət- 

variants or less commonly whatsis

ˈ(h)wät-səs,

ˈ(h)wət- 

or what-is-it

ˈ(h)wät-iz-ət,

ˈ(h)wət- 

: thingamajig

Synonyms

• dingus
• doodad
• doohickey
• hickey
• thingamabob
• thingamajig
• thingumajig
• thingummy
• whatchamacallit
• whatnot

Examples of whatsit in a Sentence

there's always one random whatsit left over every time I put a bookcase together

Recent Examples on the Web

In this intricately improvised whatsit, Indonesian immigrants Asri and Hasan convene every day at twilight hour, in the heart of Taiwan’s oldest city, to share the day’s news and experiences, spinning second-hand tales of migrant struggle into rhapsodically spontaneous verse. —Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 10 Feb. 2025

Back then, the song was a fast, visionary whatsit, all pulsing, pipe-like synths and simple, buzzing one-bit melodies. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 16 Mar. 2024

The villain this time around isn’t a person but an all-powerful artificial-intelligence whatsit known as the Entity, which fools a super-advanced Russian submarine into destroying itself in the film’s clever pre-credits sequence. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 5 July 2023

Disaster strikes when Loretta is kidnaped by eccentric zillionaire Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) who hopes to use her anthropological knowhow to recover an ancient whatsit from a remote jungle island. —Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 24 Mar. 2022

That’s nothing if not a unique premise, but writer-director Cesar Cabral’s animated whatsit proves more compelling as a concept than as an actual movie. —Michael Nordine, Variety, 24 Jan. 2022

Equal parts art-house whatsit and car-fetish classic, the film works so well thanks to director Sarafian’s ability to shoot a chase, as well as his feel for the landscape. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 July 2021

The numbers of whosits and the intensity of the whatsits really does depend on who is running. —Chris Stirewalt, Fox News, 24 Aug. 2018

Thirty-seven percent of whosits voting at a greater intensity than 41 percent of whatsits, etc. —Chris Stirewalt, Fox News, 24 Aug. 2018

Word History

Etymology

whatsit & whatsis contraction of what-is-it

First Known Use

circa 1882, in the meaning defined above