chiclet keyboard

noun

Any of various early computer keyboards having an array of small, flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys.

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Meanings

nounchiclet keyboard (plural chiclet keyboards)

plural chiclet keyboards

  1. informalcomputingAny of various early computer keyboards having an array of small, flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys.

    At the best of times it's difficult to type on a chiclet keyboard.

    1984 February, Popular Mechanics, volume 161, number 2
    2 more examples

    The chiclet keyboard and single-line LED display do not permit rapid data entry and text editing...

    1985, Linda Gail Christie, The Simon and Schuster guide to computer peripherals

    […] clamshell-like devices with a tiny chiclet keyboard, a stylus for selecting and pointing, and a black-and-white Windows 95-like user interface.

    2002, Paul B Thurrott, Windows XP home networking

Origin

From Chiclets (itself from chicle), a brand of chewing gum bearing some resemblance to the keys.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

chiclet keyboard. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chiclet%20keyboard

MLA

“chiclet keyboard.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chiclet%20keyboard. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chiclet keyboard,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chiclet%20keyboard.

Source: chiclet keyboard on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.