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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

widget.

A placeholder name for an unnamed, unspecified, or hypothetical manufactured good or product, typically as an example for purposes of explaining concepts.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈwɪd͡ʒ.ɪt/Received-Pronunciation, US
  1. A placeholder name for an unnamed, unspecified, or hypothetical manufactured good or product, typically as an example for purposes of explaining concepts.

    Suppose we have a widget factory that produces 100 units per year...
  2. A floating device inside a beer can, meant to create foam when opened.

  3. A small scraping tool consisting of a blade and a handle, commonly used to remove paint from glass and other smooth surfaces.

  4. Synonym of tool, implement, device, gadget, part.

    informal
Where this word comes from

Coined by American playwright George S. Kaufman in 1924 in his play Beggar on Horseback (1924). The preface to the 1924 play credits an earlier German work from 1911 where there is an actor Elisabeth Wigge.

noun/ˈwɪd͡ʒ.ɪt/Received-Pronunciation, US
  1. Any one of the components of a computer application's graphical user interface, such as a Cancel button or text input box that a user interacts with.

  2. A small applet that can be placed on the desktop or in a sidebar, etc.

    This weather widget shows the current temperature.
Where this word comes from

Blend of window + gadget.

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widget studiowidget workshello, widget

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.