doohickey
/ˈduhɪki/noun
doohickey is spelled D-O-O-H-I-C-K-E-Y: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 131,834th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, doohickey means “A thing (used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one does not know or cannot recall)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of doohickey is doohickeys.
How many letters and syllables are in doohickey?
| Letters | 9: D-O-O-H-I-C-K-E-Y |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 19 million words; the 131,834th 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 doohickey?
Doohickey appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 131,834th 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 doohickey?
- US /ˈduhɪki/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-doohickey.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of doohickey
- doohickeys plural
- dohickey
- do-hickey
- doo-hickey
- do-hinky
- doohinky
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does doohickey mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
slangA thing (used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one does not know or cannot recall)
What does this doohickey do?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Doohickey in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a thing:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | truc, machin |
| German | Dingsbums, Dingsda |
| Portuguese | coisa, negócio, trem, troço, treco, trambolho |
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 doohickey come from?
First attested 1914, of uncertain origin, probably from doodad + hickey.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).