greebly
noun
a small detail added to a model/illustration/etc.
What does greebly mean?
Greebly (or greeble) refers to a small or superficial detail added to something, such as an illustration, a costume, or a 3D model of something (think LEGOs or model spaceships, for example), for aesthetic purposes. Greeblies/greebles are usually added by an artist, builder, or cosplayer to make something look more texturally complex, realistic, interesting, cool, etc.
Examples of greebly
What’s your favorite source of greeblies? Looking for an fairly inexpensive source of guns, spikes, armor and other bits of detail added to custom Gaslands cars
—@Cyber_Ryder, Reddit, 20 Feb. 2023
Jack Kirby focusing on greebles and panel lines in his late style …
—Greeblies, to me, refer to bits that fill space on large structures like buildings or space craft. Like the base of the construction isn’t a kit but maybe cardboard or something. Then you glue stuff onto it so it doesn’t look like a cardboard box.
—Work in progress doodle inspired by Factorio’s space platforms. Needs more greebles.
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Where does greebly come from?
Written evidence for greebly dates back at least to the early 70s, though not with its present meaning. In the acknowledgements of a 1973 paper titled “Economics of Involuntary Transfers: A Unified Approach to Pollution and Congestion Externalities,” for example, author T. Page thanks someone for their “admirable understanding of greeblies.” Given the title of the paper, this use may have more relation to a use of greebly found in Australia and New Zealand (and elsewhere) referring to a microorganism, germ, etc.:
Sydney officials advised residents and visitors to boil their drinking water to kill greeblies.
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A use of greeble specific to psychology also emerged, as did one referring to a creature or monster:
One way psychologists study the acquisition of such [facial recognition] expertise is to use computer-generated images of objects known in the field as “greebles.” A greeble looks like a space alien.
—… finding your way through a maze beset by giants or goblins or any other kind of greebly …
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But somewhere along the way, greebly and greeble took hold among professional and hobbyist model makers.
Since the advent of kit-bashing, effects artists have given a name to these model kit detail parts. British modelmakers such as Martin Bower and Bill Pearson refer to them as “wiggets”; in the United States, such parts are known as “nernies,” “greeblies,” or “greebles.”
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This use was credited to filmmaker George Lucas all the way back in 1980 according to one source.
Another big shopper is Frank Bruton, head of the property department, who has bought or scrounged thousands of props for the picture. For example, he bought an old V-8 engine and broke it up into hundreds of useful items to furnish sets in space. “If we can’t give a name to something we call it a ‘greebly,’” he told me. “Greebly is a word George Lucas coined on Star Wars for something you can’t otherwise define.
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How is greebly used?
In addition to the nouns greeble and greebly, there are also related adjective, verb, and noun uses.
Sometimes you see a LEGO part and you think “now what will I ever do with that?” I’ve always loved the greebly, mechanical look of the ripcord housing element, but for the life of me I’ve never found a use for it.
—Why did spaceship models stop being greebled? Was this because Apple tech started to make computer tech all smooth and curved and that influenced special fx artists?
—Essentially, greebling is a process that many LEGO builders undertake to add detail to their builds. It is typically done by adding small elements (think studs, mechanical parts, cylinders, you name it!) to the surface of a build in a random—or seemingly random—fashion.
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