Rube Gold·berg / ˈgōldˌbərg/ • adj. unnecessarily or comically complex in design.ORIGIN: an allusion to the humorously complicated, impracticable, or ingenious devices dreamed up and illustrated by U.S. artist Reuben (‘Rube’) Lucius Goldberg (1883–1970).

Rube Goldberg designating a device that is unnecessarily complicated, impracticable, or ingenious, from the name of Reuben (‘ Rube’) Lucius Goldberg (1883–1970), US humorous artist, whose illustrations often depicted such devices.