Word.ws English Dictionary

McGuffin

McGuffin is the alternative spelling of MacGuffin.

Meaning of MacGuffin

Noun

MacGuffin (plural MacGuffins)

  1. 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."2000, Steven Spielberg, Lester D. Friedman, Brent Notbohm, Steven Spielberg: Interviews

See all 2 meanings of MacGuffin

Forms of McGuffin

pluralMcGuffins

Questions about McGuffin

What is McGuffin the alternative spelling of?
McGuffin is the alternative spelling of MacGuffin.

Words near McGuffin in the dictionary

  1. McGuckins
  2. McGuffey
  3. McGuffeys
  4. McGuffie
  5. McGuffies
  6. McGuffin
  7. McGuffins
  8. McGuigan
  9. McGuigans
  10. McGuiness
  11. McGuinn

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: McGuffin (page history and authors); MacGuffin (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.

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