dingbat
/ˈdɪŋbæt/noun
dingbat is spelled D-I-N-G-B-A-T: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 98,107th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dingbat means “A silly, crazy or stupid person” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dingbat is dingbats.
How many letters and syllables are in dingbat?
| Letters | 7: D-I-N-G-B-A-T |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 11 million words; the 98,107th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is dingbat?
Dingbat appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 98,107th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dingbat?
- US /ˈdɪŋbæt/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-dingbat.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of dingbat
- dingbats plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dingbat mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
informalA silly, crazy or stupid person.
- 2
A special ornamental typographical symbol, such as a bullet, an arrow, a pointing hand etc.
"The compulsive editor, when checking the specs on an article, can't help checking also for such items as initial capital and closing dingbat, if they are used routinely. These decorative items have a way of being forgotten..."
- 3
An architectural style of apartment building, where the second storey overhangs an area for parking cars.
- 4
A kind of word puzzle involving pictures or typography that hint at the solution.
- 5
slangAnything that can be thrown or swung with force against something else.
- 6
A small device or gadget, the correct term for which is forgotten or unknown.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dingbat in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense silly, crazy or stupid person:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dingbat come from?
Unknown, US mid 19th century. The word-puzzle sense comes from the board game Dingbats, which is based on these puzzles. In the sense of a miscellaneous gadget, probably influenced by dingus or its etyma.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).