Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A product which is advertised as being needed by everybody, or which everyone does in fact need.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Coined in 1972 by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel in the children's book The Lorax.

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Examples

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  • An arbitrary object of desire, a "fine-thing-that-all-people-need", central to the Dr Seuss story "The Lorax".

    October 23, 2007

  • Thneeds are made from truffula trees.

    October 23, 2007