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MacGuffin

noun
/məˈɡʌf.ɪn/UK

Etymology

Used by Alfred Hitchcock, as an arbitrary Scottish surname. The actual name comes from Ulster: Mc- (“son of”) + Irish dubh (“black”) + Irish Fionn (literally “fairheaded”). See also Wikipedia's MacGuffin § History and use.

  1. derived from Fionn — “fairheaded”

Definitions

  1. A plot element or other device used to catch the audience's attention and maintain…

    A plot element or other device used to catch the audience's attention and maintain suspense, but whose exact nature has fairly little influence over the storyline.

    • " […] But we wound up realizing you really can't top yourself. You just tell a different story and hope the new MacGuffin is as compelling as the last MacGuffin."

  2. A surname.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for MacGuffin. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA