Meanings
plural bobbleheads · alternative bobble head
- A collectible doll with a bobbing head.
- derogatoryfigurativelyA thoughtless person.
Will Trump and his G.O.P. bobbleheads ever wake up to that? Maybe — when it’s too late.
2025 February 25, Thomas L. Friedman, “The Disturbing Question at the Heart of the Trump-Putin Drama”, in The New York Times, →ISSN1 more example
Muzzling Kelly also elevates a semi-professional obscurantist to the status of free speech martyr, and that invites a cacophonous pile-on from the rightwing bobble heads who screech about the left’s obsession with identity politics while shovelling identity politics at their audiences.
2021 February 2, Katharine Murphy, “Scott Morrison must heed the lesson of Donald Trump and slap down Craig Kelly”, in The Guardian - derogatoryethnicoffensiveslangsluruncommonAn Indian.
Origin
From bobble + head. Sense 3 derives from a common gesture found in South Asian cultures, most notably in India.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
German Wackelkopffigur, Wackeldackel
- Wackelkopffigurdoll with a bobbing head
- Wackeldackeldoll with a bobbing head
Cite this entry
bobblehead. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bobblehead
“bobblehead.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bobblehead. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bobblehead,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bobblehead.
Source: bobblehead on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.