Meanings
plural tinkerers
- agentAgent noun of tinker; one who tinkers with things.
Part of why both books dragged on so long is that Mr. Talese, who once worked for The New York Times, is a perfectionist, an obsessive tinkerer and rewriter, and also a famously meticulous reporter and researcher who spurns devices like composite characters and faked identities.
2009 April 16, Charles McGrath, “Sex and Crime, the Updates: Gay Talese Is Back on the Beat”, in The New York Times1 more example
Make magazine, which celebrates “your right to tweak, hack and bend any technology to your own will,” has joined with the New York Hall of Science to gather more than 500 of the craftiest inventors, artists, technology enthusiasts, tinkerers and hobbyists to share their expertise.
2011 September 15, Rachel Lee Harris, “The World Maker Faire in Queens Draws Inventors”, in The New York Times - A meddler.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna person who enjoys fixing and experimenting with machines and their parts
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 修補匠 /修补匠
- 修補匠 /修补匠person who tinkers with things
Esperanto ladisto
- ladistoperson who tinkers with things
Finnish nikkari
- nikkariperson who tinkers with things
French ferblantier
- ferblantierperson who tinkers with things
German Tüftler
- Tüftlerperson who tinkers with things
Italian pensatore
- pensatoreperson who tinkers with things
Russian уме́лец
- уме́лец (umélec)person who tinkers with things
Turkish tamirci
- tamirciperson who tinkers with things
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tinkerer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tinkerer
“tinkerer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tinkerer. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tinkerer,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tinkerer.
Source: tinkerer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.