Dingbats

Dingbats is a term used to describe decorative symbols and ornaments used in typography, as well as a type of visual word puzzle. In typography, dingbats refer to a class of ornamental characters and symbols that can be used as bullets, borders, dividers, or decorative fillers within a page. These symbols range from simple bullets or stars to intricate floral or geometric motifs and are often included in typefaces marketed as dingbats or ornament fonts. With the rise of digital fonts, dingbat sets such as Wingdings and Webdings became popular because they bundle a large catalog of pictorial symbols accessible via standard character encoding.

Historically, dingbats originated as printer’s ornaments used to embellish pages in manuscripts and early printed books. Over time, the term came to describe the broader category of decorative characters that accompany standard type, functioning as visual accents rather than alphabetic or numeric data. In modern design, dingbats are used to add flair, cue information, or create visual cues in layouts, advertisements, posters, and user interfaces. Designers must consider cross-platform compatibility and accessibility, since some symbols may render differently, be misinterpreted by assistive technology, or be unavailable on certain systems.

Dingbats also denotes a popular family of puzzle formats known as dingbat puzzles or pictogram puzzles. In these, a word or phrase is represented by a combination of pictures, symbols, or typographic arrangements intended to evoke the solution through interpretation rather than direct depiction. This usage has become common in books, magazines, and online games as a form of visual wordplay.

In summary, dingbats describes both decorative typographic symbols and a type of puzzle, reflecting a shared heritage of using imagery to convey meaning beyond standard text.