Meanings
- UKderogatoryhumorousgovernmentA nickname for Theresa May.
Whirr. Clunk. Clang. The Maybot’s eyes rotated into life.
2016 November 8, John Crace, “Theresa struggles to take back control – from her own Maybot”, in The Guardian3 more examples
Theresa Villiers, the former Northern Ireland Secretary, sacked in the Maybot takeover, sported a vacuous grin throughout the whole mechanical exercise, confirming perhaps that the election chip had been successfully inserted.
2017 May 8, Michael Settle, “Election sketch: the Maybot repeats herself - strong and stable leadership; me not him”, in The Herald ScotlandHer campaign team seemed to have found a patch for the Maybot.
2017 June 3, Andrew Rawnsley, “The Maybot and Monsieur Zen. A drama that didn’t obey the script”, in The Guardian2018 November 21, Brian Smith, letter to the editor in "‘Queue-jumping’ comment reveals the Tories’ moral vacuum", The Guardian. The perils of AI decision-making incorporating false assumptions is nicely illustrated by the Maybot’s latest output: EU citizens will no longer be able to “jump the queue ahead of ... software developers from Delhi”.
Origin
From May + -bot. Popularised by John Crace for political sketches published since November 8th 2016.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Maybot. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Maybot
“Maybot.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Maybot. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Maybot,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Maybot.
Source: Maybot on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.