Word.ws English Dictionary

kludge

/klʌd͡ʒ/

kludge noun: an improvised device, typically crudely constructed to test the validity of a principle before implementing a finished design.

Noun

kludge (plural kludges)

  1. (informal) An improvised device, typically crudely constructed to test the validity of a principle before implementing a finished design.
    Synonyms:
    workaround
  2. (informal) Any construction or practice, typically crude yet effective, designed to solve a problem temporarily or expediently.
  3. (informal) An amalgamated mass of unrelated parts.
  4. (informal) A badly written or makeshift piece of software; a hack.

Verb

kludge (third-person singular simple present kludges, present participle kludging, simple past and past participle kludged)

  1. (informal, transitive) To build or use a kludge.

Synonyms of kludge

2 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of kludge

Forms of kludge

Noun
pluralkludges
alternative formcludge
alternative formkluge
Verb
third-person singular presentkludges
present participlekludging
past participlekludged
pastkludged

Origin of kludge

Perhaps from British military slang, possibly based on Scots word kludge or kludgie (“common toilet”), or perhaps from German klug (“clever”). Alternatively, possibly related to Polish klucz (“key, clue, main point”) and Russian ключ (ključ, “key, clue”). Alternatively, perhaps from (a form related to) Germanic words such as Dutch Low Saxon klütje (“(little) dumpling, clod”), Dutch kluit(je) or Jutland Danish klyt (“piece of bad workmanship, klud(g)e”); compare and standard Danish kludder (“mess, disorder”). (Compare klutz.) There is evidence that kluge (which see) was once a separate word with similar meaning but separate derivation, but the spelling kludge was widely popularized in the US by an article in Datamation "How to Design a Kludge" (1962), and since then the two words have often been used as alternative spellings of each other. According to the OED, an "invented word" influenced by bodge and fudge.

Words formed from kludge

Words that rhyme with kludge

8 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about kludge

What does kludge mean?
Kludge means an improvised device, typically crudely constructed to test the validity of a principle before implementing a finished design.
What part of speech is kludge?
Kludge can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce kludge?
Kludge is pronounced /klʌd͡ʒ/.
What is the plural of kludge?
The plural of kludge is kludges.

Words near kludge in the dictionary

  1. Klubok
  2. Kluck
  3. Klucks
  4. kludd
  5. kludds
  6. kludge
  7. kludge out
  8. kludged
  9. kludged out
  10. kludgeocracies
  11. kludgeocracy

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kludge (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-kludge.wav.

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