contraption
noun
[ kənˈtrapʃ(ə)n ]
• a machine or device that appears strange or unnecessarily complicated, and often badly made or unsafe.
• "repairing stereos and making contraptions out of spare electronic bits"
Similar:
device,
gadget,
apparatus,
machine,
appliance,
mechanism,
implement,
utensil,
invention,
contrivance,
Heath Robinson device,
Rube Goldberg device,
gizmo,
widget,
thingamajig,
thingamabob,
whatsit,
doodah,
doobry,
gubbins,
dingus,
doodad,
doojigger,
doohickey,
bitzer,
thingo,
Origin:
early 19th century: perhaps from contrive (on the pattern of pairs such as conceive, conception ), by association with trap1.
