1
: gadget
2
: an unnamed article considered for purposes of hypothetical example
3
: a small software application that is designed to provide a specific piece of information (such as news, weather, or traffic updates) or a specific function (such as taking notes or controlling another application) on demand
This resource allows anglers to see what advisories are in effect in specific waterways … . The web page is optimized for mobile devices, with a widget that allows users to zoom to their exact location on the map with the press of a button. Chris Knauss
A widget might show you the weather forecast, or the latest baseball scores. There are widgets that show photographs you've stored online, or that cull images from the Daily Puppy Web site. Rob Walker

Examples of widget in a Sentence

manufacturers of all kinds of widgets for the do-it-yourselfer
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Live cursors, presence indicators and in-context commenting create continuous awareness among participants, while AI agents contribute through suggestion widgets, status indicators and real-time function calls. Roshan Pawar, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025 That will address some user complaints that common VR games and applications from other platforms (which use physical accessories and controllers like this) wouldn't work on the Vision Pro. Also, widgets are now supported in visionOS. Samuel Axon, ArsTechnica, 9 June 2025 That was before Gose realized that, in the private-equity world, a hospital was just another widget, a tool to make money and nothing more. Megan Greenwell, The Atlantic, 9 June 2025 By attempting to crash all these fields while trying to pump up the most old-fashioned forms of manufacturing through his tariff sledgehammer, Trump seems literally to want to drive Americans from sectors requiring thought and invention to screwing in widgets on assembly lines. Tom Rogers, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for widget

Word History

Etymology

alteration of gadget

First Known Use

1924, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of widget was in 1924

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Widget.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/widget. Accessed 29 Jun. 2025.

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