Dictionary

klugey en · ADJ

Etymology

From kluge + -y.

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of kludgy.
   alt of kludgy
   • Essentially, it is more efficient for the law to make these klugey patches on the overcomplicated tax code than to overhaul it entirely from scratch to make it more user-friendly. 2016, Samuel Arbesman, “The Origins of the Kluge”, in Overcomplicated: Technology at the Limits of Comprehension, New York, N.Y.: Current, →ISBN, pages 40–41:
   • Probably the most straightforward solution would be to put the www-rl servers into another domain altogether. Netscape—originally known as Mosaic Communications—has other domains besides netscape.com available to it. Some other domains available would include netscape.net, and mcom.com. Arguably, this is a klugey solution, since it’s a special case of a different type: all of Netscape’s servers are part of the netscape.com domain, where they can easily be identified. Our solution really has both klugey and elegant parts. 2002, Matt Curtin, Developing Trust: Online Privacy and Security, Berkeley, Calif.: Apress, →ISBN, page 153:
   • Once a structure or behavior arises as a product of mutation and is amplified as a result of natural selection, or a structure or behavior arises and is amplified by genetic drift, no matter how klugey, it is retained in a population. And if natural selection acts further to increase the frequency of the klugey solution, a population cannot simply scrap the solution for a less klugey approach. […] This doesn’t mean that things, once klugey, will always get klugier. But it does mean that'kluginess can beget even more kluginess, and this is more than likely what happened with brains, as exemplified by following the changes throughout the tree of life and especially in the vertebrate part of the tree of life. 2018, Rob DeSalle, “Team of Rivals Meets the Kluge: Making Sense Out of Crossmodal Stimuli from the Outer World”, in Our Senses: An Immersive Experience, New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 161:

Forms

Deriveds

klugeyness