whachamacallit

Also what-do-you-call-it,
Or what·cha·ma·call·it

[hwuhch-uh-muh-kawl-it, hwoch-, wuhch-, woch-]

noun

Informal.

1. an object or person whose name one does not know or cannot recall.

Word History and Origins

Origin of whachamacallit¹

First recorded in 1940–45; spelling of what you may call it or what do you call it, the first reflecting affrication of t before y and reduction of vowels; compare similar metric pattern and internal əmə in rigamarole, thingamajig ( def. )

When To Use

What does whachamacallit mean?

Whachamacallit is a very informal word for an object whose name you don’t know, have forgotten, or can’t recall at the moment.It’s also commonly spelled whatchamacallit. Similar terms are what-do-you-call-it and whaddyacallit.It’s often used to refer to gadgets or parts of things that might not even have a commonly known name, as in Before we attach the bracket, we have to insert this whachamacallit here. The word is also sometimes used to refer to things that are not physical objects, such as events, types of media, or abstract concepts. Whachamacallit can be used to refer to a person whose name you can’t remember, but this is rare (terms more commonly used for this purpose are what’s-her-name, what’s-his-name, and what’s-their-name).There are several other similarly informal words that are used in the same way as whachamacallit, including whatsit, thingamajig, thingamabob, thingy, doohickey, and doodad.Example: My kids got me one of those whachamacallits that track your steps. What’s it called? A stepometer?