Standard Lemma guide

gadget

noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɡæd͡ʒ.ɪt/
  • General-American: /ɡæd͡ʒ.ɪt/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ɡæd͡ʒ.ət/ weak vowel merger
  • rhymes with -ædʒɪt
  • CMU ARPABET: G AE1 JH AH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A thing whose name cannot be remembered; thingamajig, doohickey.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any device or machine, especially one whose name cannot be recalled, often either clever or complicated.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • He bought a neat new gadget for shredding potatoes.
  • That's quite a lot of gadgets you have collected. Do you use any of them?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Any consumer electronics product.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A sequence of machine code instructions crafted as part of an exploit that attempts to divert execution to a memory location chosen by the attacker.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: computer security

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A technique for converting a part of one problem to an equivalent part of another problem, used in constructing reductions.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computer, computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, science, sciences

Examples

  • We reduce an instance of 3-SAT to an instance of bird-flock-optimization, using a gadget that converts each conjunctive Boolean clause to a group of birds.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A spring clip attached to the end of a punty in order to grasp the foot of a glass without leaving a bullion while finishing the bowl.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: arts, crafts, glassblowing, hobbies, lifestyle

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

a device or control that is very useful for a particular job

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: appliance, contraption, contrivance, convenience, gizmo, gismo, widget

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: device

Narrower terms: gadgetry, gimbal, injector, mod con

History

Etymology

Unknown. First used in print by Robert Brown in 1886 (see quote in definition section). Might come from French gâchette or gagée, or from the French family name Gaget, an industrialist who produced promotional gadgets in collaboration with the project to build the statue of Liberty.

Across languages

Translations

87 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: vegël — any device or machine
  • Arabic: جِهَاز (jihāz) — any device or machine
  • Arabic: جِهَاز (jihāz) — any device or machine
  • Armenian: գաջեթ (gaǰetʻ) — any device or machine
  • Azerbaijani: qadjet — any device or machine
  • Bulgarian: джа́джа (džádža) — any device or machine
  • Chinese Mandarin: 小器具 (xiǎo qìjù) — any device or machine
  • Chinese Mandarin: 小工具 (xiǎo gōngjù) — any device or machine
  • Chinese Mandarin: 小道具 (xiǎo dàojù) — any device or machine
  • Danish: gadget — any device or machine
  • Dutch: gadget — any device or machine
  • Esperanto: aparato — any device or machine
  • Esperanto: ilo — any device or machine
  • Esperanto: artefakto — any device or machine
  • Estonian: riistapuu — any device or machine
  • Finnish: laite — any device or machine
  • Finnish: härpätin — any device or machine
  • Finnish: vekotin — any device or machine
  • Finnish: vehje — any device or machine
  • Finnish: värkki — any device or machine
  • Finnish: härveli — any device or machine
  • Finnish: hilavitkutin — any device or machine
  • French: gadget — any device or machine
  • Galician: trebello — any device or machine
  • Galician: tarambollo — any device or machine
  • Galician: fuchico — any device or machine
  • Galician: canxorna — any device or machine
  • Galician: estaribeque — any device or machine
  • Galician: conto — any device or machine
  • Galician: estriloxo — any device or machine
  • Galician: enxamiada — any device or machine
  • Galician: entemeñada — any device or machine
  • Galician: enteveada — any device or machine
  • Georgian: გაჯეტი (gaǯeṭi) — any device or machine
  • Georgian: მოწყობილობა (moc̣q̇obiloba) — any device or machine
  • Georgian: ხელსაწყო (xelsac̣q̇o) — any device or machine
  • German: Apparat — any device or machine
  • German: Gadget — any device or machine
  • German: Gerät — any device or machine
  • Greek: μηχάνημα (michánima) — any device or machine
  • Greek: γκάτζετ (gkátzet) — any device or machine
  • Hebrew: גאדג׳ט — any device or machine
  • Hebrew: גַּדְגֶ׳ט (gádjet) — any device or machine
  • Hindi: गैजेट (gaijeṭ) — any device or machine
  • Hungarian: kütyü — any device or machine
  • Hungarian: okosság — any device or machine
  • Hungarian: szerkentyű — any device or machine
  • Hungarian: készség — any device or machine
  • Indonesian: gawai — any device or machine
  • Indonesian: acang — any device or machine
  • Italian: aggeggio — any device or machine
  • Japanese: ガジェット (gajetto) — any device or machine
  • Japanese: 小道具 (kodōgu) — any device or machine
  • Korean: 소도구 (sodogu) — any device or machine
  • Korean: 가젯 (gajet) — any device or machine
  • Macedonian: направа (naprava) — any device or machine
  • Macedonian: џиџе (džidže) — any device or machine
  • Malay: gajet — any device or machine
  • Persian: ابزارک (abzârak) — any device or machine
  • Polish: gadżet — any device or machine
  • Portuguese: engenhoca — any device or machine
  • Portuguese: apetrecho — any device or machine
  • Romanian: gadget — any device or machine
  • Russian: устро́йство (ustrójstvo) — any device or machine
  • Russian: га́джет (gádžet) — any device or machine
  • Russian: штуко́вина (štukóvina) — any device or machine
  • Sardinian: abbréddulu — any device or machine
  • Serbo-Croatian: сокоћало — any device or machine
  • Serbo-Croatian: геџет — any device or machine
  • Serbo-Croatian: sokoćalo — any device or machine
  • Serbo-Croatian: gedžet — any device or machine
  • Spanish: artilugio — any device or machine
  • Spanish: aparato — any device or machine
  • Swedish: mojäng — any device or machine
  • Swedish: mackapär — any device or machine
  • Swedish: manick — any device or machine
  • Swedish: grunka — any device or machine
  • Swedish: apparat — any device or machine
  • Tagalog: gadyet — any device or machine
  • Tajik: абзорак (abzorak) — any device or machine
  • Tajik: гаҷет (gajet) — any device or machine
  • Thai: แกดเจ็ต (gɛ́t-jèt) — any device or machine
  • Ukrainian: при́стрій (prýstrij) — any device or machine
  • Ukrainian: ґа́джет (gádžet) — any device or machine
  • Ukrainian: штуко́вина (štukóvyna) — any device or machine
  • Welsh: teclyn — any device or machine
  • Welsh: teclynnau — any device or machine