ˈ(h)wät-sət
variants
also whatsis
or what-is-it
as in thingamajig
a small article the actual name of which one either does not know or cannot remember
there's always one random whatsit left over every time I put a bookcase together
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of whatsit
Now, the Entity intends to annihilate humanity in four days unless it can be taken offline by a key that accesses a gizmo in the Arctic Sea that connects to a whatsit that Ving Rhames’s weary Luther is attempting to invent from a makeshift hospital bed somewhere in the subway tunnels of London.
—
Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2025
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
The numbers of whosits and the intensity of the whatsits really does depend on who is running.
—Chris Stirewalt, Fox News, 24 Aug. 2018
Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2025
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
The numbers of whosits and the intensity of the whatsits really does depend on who is running.
—Chris Stirewalt, Fox News, 24 Aug. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whatsit
Noun
-
And this doesn’t include the little four-facial-expression thingamajigs in airport restrooms that ask you to rank cleanliness by touching them.—
Phil Wahba,
Fortune,
28 Dec. 2025
-
Lenovo’s claim appears to be that the Legion 9i can fully cool itself with this method, no thingamajig needed.—
Monica Chin,
The Verge,
1 Sep. 2023
Noun
-
Wicks ends up dead, stabbed in the back with a sinister-looking thingamabob.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
12 Dec. 2025
-
But where barrel jeans play with proportions and cuts, these pants are more about doohickeys and thingamabobs, straps, flaps, and pulleys.—
Sam Reed,
Glamour,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Neighbor-bully-jerkface Trey takes the bolt cutters to the tunnel’s electrical whatchamacallits, which causes a minor explosion and opens up that wicked grate that got Matty in ’94.—
Nick Caruso,
TVLine,
11 Jan. 2025
-
Also: how in the name of Philadelphia Flyers hockey legend Bobby Clarke did this show get Gritty, the giant orange whatchamacallit who is the Flyers mascot, as its opening night guest star?—
Gene Seymour,
CNN,
22 Sep. 2022
Noun
-
That is the fateful question seemingly posed by this new Pixar installment, which picks up on the familiar parenting conundrum about screentime as Woody, Buzz and the gang encounter a new doohickey in the playroom – a tablet.—
Dan Heching,
CNN Money,
5 Jan. 2026
-
But where barrel jeans play with proportions and cuts, these pants are more about doohickeys and thingamabobs, straps, flaps, and pulleys.—
Sam Reed,
Glamour,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Here, this happily deluded dingus is played by a modern master of the type, David Cross.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
17 Dec. 2025
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Companion, meanwhile, quickly makes clear what a dingus Josh is; the film seems uninterested in deeper character study, instead just generating turns aplenty to keep up the momentum.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
3 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Analysts work on the bottom floor; operatives work on the top floor, which is basically internal affairs for the CIA, FBI, NSA and whatnot.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
26 Dec. 2025
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Don't go so deep as to like count calories and whatnot, my thing is eating whole foods.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
24 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Friends emerge from the weekend with a lot of hickeys.—
Olivia B. Waxman,
Time,
10 Apr. 2025
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In other words, don't bother asking how to get rid of a hickey fast.—
Lindsey Ellefson,
Glamour,
28 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Whatsit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whatsit. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.
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