| 1. | having a fantastically complicated, improvised appearance: a Rube Goldberg arrangement of flasks and test tubes. |
| 2. | deviously complex and impractical: a Rube Goldberg scheme for reducing taxes. |
[gohld-burg] 
| 1. | Arthur Joseph, 1908–90, U.S. jurist, statesman, and diplomat: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1962–65; ambassador to the U.N. 1965–68. |
| 2. | Reuben Lucius (“Rube” ), 1883–1970, U.S. cartoonist, whose work often depicts deviously complex and impractical inventions. |
| Rube Goldberg (rōōb') adj. Of, relating to, or being a contrivance that brings about by complicated means what apparently could have been accomplished simply. [After Reuben Lucius ("Rube") Goldberg (1883-1970), American cartoonist noted for his intricate diagrams of such contrivances.] |
