Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Slang An empty-headed or silly person.
  • noun An object, such as a brick or stone, used as a missile.
  • noun Slang An unspecified gadget or other small article, especially one whose name is unknown or forgotten.
  • noun Printing A typographical ornament or symbol.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun informal A silly, crazy or stupid person.
  • noun typography A special ornamental typographical symbol, such as a bullet, an arrow, a pointing hand etc.
  • noun architecture An architectural style of apartment building, where the second storey overhangs an area for parking cars.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a silly empty-headed person

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably ding + bat (as in bats in the belfry).]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word dingbat.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • There was a ranch near where I grew up - the sign on the gate as you drove by: "dingbat flat." I always liked the name, til I found out that another dingbat flat was the site of an Australian race riot.

    February 17, 2007

  • ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ?, ? ? ? ??? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?. ? ? ? ?? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ?;? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? . ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ?. ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ?.

    ? ? ? ? ? ? ?,

    ? ? ? ? ?

    August 30, 2009