Rube Goldberg

views updated May 21 2018

Rube Gold·berg / ˈgōldˌbərg/ • adj. unnecessarily or comically complex in design.ORIGIN: an allusion to the humorously complicated, impracticable, or ingenious devices dreamed up and illustrated by U.S. artist Reuben (‘Rube’) Lucius Goldberg (1883–1970).

Rube Goldberg

views updated May 23 2018

Rube Goldberg designating a device that is unnecessarily complicated, impracticable, or ingenious, from the name of Reuben (‘ Rube’) Lucius Goldberg (1883–1970), US humorous artist, whose illustrations often depicted such devices.