macgyver
UK/məˈɡaɪvə//məˈɡaɪvɚ/
macgyver is the alternative spelling of MacGyver.
Noun capitalized: MacGyver
MacGyver (plural MacGyvers)
- Someone capable of improvising an ingenious solution from everyday objects or unsuitable resources.
Verb capitalized: MacGyver
MacGyver (third-person singular simple present MacGyvers, present participle MacGyvering, simple past and past participle MacGyvered)
- To assemble or repair something by ingenious improvisation, using everyday items that would not usually be used for the purpose.
- Our car broke down and we didn't have any tools but Jim MacGyvered it with some toenail clippers and we were able to limp to the service station.
- It is why some of the American troops experimented with commercial drones that they could weaponize by fixing with explosives, to see how to counter such tactics, much as Russian troops have had to learn how to defend against Ukraine’s use of store-bought drones that have been MacGyvered with...2024 April 24, Helene Cooper, “NATO Puts on a Show of Force in the Shadow of Russia’s War”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
- Synonyms:
- jury-rig, nigger-rig
Synonyms of macgyver
Forms of macgyver
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | macgyvers |
| present participle | macgyvering |
| past participle | macgyvered |
| past | macgyvered |
| third-person singular present | MacGyvers |
| present participle | MacGyvering |
| past participle | MacGyvered |
| past | MacGyvered |
| Noun | |
| plural | MacGyvers |
Origin of macgyver
From the name of the eponymous character in the television program MacGyver, a secret agent with an uncanny ability to construct weapons from seemingly useless bits of junk.
Questions about macgyver
- What does macgyver mean?
- Macgyver means someone capable of improvising an ingenious solution from everyday objects or unsuitable resources.
- What is macgyver the alternative spelling of?
- Macgyver is the alternative spelling of MacGyver.
- What part of speech is macgyver?
- Macgyver can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce macgyver?
- Macgyver is pronounced /məˈɡaɪvə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of macgyver?
- The plural of macgyver is MacGyvers.
Words near macgyver in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: macgyver (page history and authors); MacGyver (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-us-MacGyver.ogg.
Cite this entry: “macgyver.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/macgyver. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.