Word.ws English Dictionary

gadgetbahn

Syllables: gad·get·bahnUK/ˈɡædʒɪtbɑːn/US/ˈɡæd͡ʒətˌbɑn/

gadgetbahn noun: a public transportation scheme based on modern technology which seems to be infeasible or unnecessary.

Noun

gadgetbahn (plural gadgetbahns or gadgetbahnen)

  1. (derogatory, slang) A public transportation scheme based on modern technology which seems to be infeasible or unnecessary.
    • To cite a favorite example of gadgetbahnen enthusiasts, automated train operation is as easily applied to conventional rail as monorails, as demonstrated by the Vancouver, BC, Skytrain (which uses standard railroad technology, not monorail as some Seattle monorail boosters apparently believe). […]...2002 November 25, Michael D. Setty; Leroy W. Demery, Jr., “Conventional Rail vs. ‘Gadgetbahnen’”, in Planetizen, Los Angeles, Calif., archived from the original on 02 May 2021
    • Ken Avidor, a Minnesota transit advocate and critic of similarly proposed systems, called the project the latest iteration of "gadgetbahn," a play on "autobahn" the German word for freeway. Gadgetbahn refers to highly technological transport systems relying on untried innovations. "All of these...2007 March 16, Marc Albert, “Newfangled rail system for Alameda Point questioned”, in The Alameda Sun, Alameda, Calif.: Eric J. Kos and Dennis Evanosky, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 May...

Examples of gadgetbahn in a sentence

  • Ken Avidor, a Minnesota transit advocate and critic of similarly proposed systems, called the project the latest iteration of "gadgetbahn," a play on "autobahn" the German word for freeway.2007 March 16, Marc Albert, “Newfangled rail system for Alameda Point questioned”, in The Alameda Sun, Alameda, Calif.: Eric J. Kos and...
  • In transit communities, projects that sound complicated and unnecessary go by the German epithet "gadgetbahn." If early gondolas are successful, advocates hope gondolas can shake this label.[2016 June 6, Josh Zumbrun, “Uphill climb: Cities push gondolas on skeptical commuters”, in The Wall Street Journal, New York, N.Y.: Dow...

Forms of gadgetbahn

pluralgadgetbahns
pluralgadgetbahnen

Origin of gadgetbahn

From English gadget + German Bahn (“route, trail; rail transport; train, tram”).

Questions about gadgetbahn

What does gadgetbahn mean?
Gadgetbahn means a public transportation scheme based on modern technology which seems to be infeasible or unnecessary.
How do you use gadgetbahn in a sentence?
Ken Avidor, a Minnesota transit advocate and critic of similarly proposed systems, called the project the latest iteration of "gadgetbahn," a play on "autobahn" the German word for freeway.
What part of speech is gadgetbahn?
Gadgetbahn is a noun.
How do you pronounce gadgetbahn?
Gadgetbahn is pronounced /ˈɡædʒɪtbɑːn/ (UK).
What is the plural of gadgetbahn?
The plural of gadgetbahn is gadgetbahns.

Words near gadgetbahn in the dictionary

  1. gadge
  2. gadger
  3. gadgers
  4. gadges
  5. gadget
  6. gadgetbahn
  7. gadgetbahnen
  8. gadgetbahns
  9. gadgeteer
  10. gadgeteering
  11. gadgeteers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gadgetbahn (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-gadgetbahn.ogg.

Cite this entry: “gadgetbahn.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gadgetbahn. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.