Heath Robinsonesque

English

Etymology

Heath Robinson +‎ -esque

Adjective

Heath Robinsonesque (comparative more Heath Robinsonesque, superlative most Heath Robinsonesque)

1. Ingenious (and often complex) but absurdly impractical or even useless.

   Synonym: rubegoldbergian

   • 1987, Barnaby Page, How to copy half a million cassettes (in Crash magazine issue 47, December 1987)

     Putting it all together: the cassette’s been run through a labelling machine, and now this Heath Robinsonesque device adds the inlay and the box in one swift operation, taking about three seconds for each cassette.