💡 An idea suggester 😜 A prankster ⚾ A baseball pitcher

spitballer

7.9

A person who suggests quick informal ideas to start group discussion

noun
/ˈspɪtˌbɔːlər/

Informal

: generador de ideas

In brainstorming sessions, a good spitballer can inspire the team to think outside the box.

Examples

During the meeting, she acted as a spitballer, throwing out creative ideas that sparked lively discussion.
He always plays the role of a spitballer, suggesting random thoughts that sometimes lead to great concepts.
Now, as payback for a lifetime of service, he gets insulted by sideline spitballers like Lucian Truscott IV.

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Synonyms

proposer

vsspitballer

1 4.6

A person who suggests an idea or plan

offers tentative informal ideas instead of formal planned proposals

brainstormer

vsspitballer

1 4.3

A person or tool that helps people think of new ideas

offers quick tentative informal suggestions rather than developed ideas

suggester

vsspitballer

1 4.9

A person who offers an idea or plan for others to consider

offers tentative informal ideas mainly during group or creative sessions

imaginer

vsspitballer

1 8.1

A person who makes new ideas and stories in their mind, like a writer or artist

shares quick tentative ideas aloud during group or informal sessions

formulator

vsspitballer

6.2

A person who creates and explains ideas or plans clearly

offers informal tentative suggestions instead of clear developed expressions

Surface Forms

spitballer singular

spitballers plural

Morphology

spitballer = spitball (semi-transparent) = spit + ball + er

The agentive morphology is regular, but the meaning relies on a metaphorical extension from the baseball sense, so the relation is not fully obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Spitballer also means someone who throws quick, rough ideas in a meeting; it comes from the verb spitball, which people use to 'throw out' suggestions, and -er means 'one who does it'. So a spitballer is a person who starts creative talk by throwing out ideas.