bauble
Americannoun
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a showy, usually cheap, ornament; trinket; gewgaw.
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a jester's scepter.
noun
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a showy toy or trinket of little value; trifle
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Usual US name: Christmas ornament. a small, usually spherical ornament made of coloured or decorated material which is hung from the branches of a Christmas tree
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(formerly) a mock staff of office carried by a court jester
Etymology
Origin of bauble
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English babel, babulle, from Old French babel, baubel, derivatives of an expressive base with varying vocalisms; compare Old French baubelet “little trinket”; see bibelot
Explanation
Baubles are trinkets or novelty items that cost little and aren’t very important or valuable, such as a plastic ring in the shape of a daisy that covers half of your finger in hot-pink plastic. Baubles: the Mardi Gras beads you collected last year, the small statue of the Eiffel tower your grandparents brought back from Paris, those big glass bulbs you use to decorate a Christmas tree, a computer mouse made to look like a hamburger.
Vocabulary lists containing bauble
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Dracula
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
No marquee name has been proposed, but how’s this: The Bumble in the Bauble.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
Bauble trim, with its little beads, adds a delightful and eye-catching element to your pillows — they dance as you move your pillows around!
From Seattle Times • Sep. 18, 2023
A lover of theater, he was active as an undergraduate in Georgetown’s Mask & Bauble Society, the nation’s longest-running college theater troupe.
From Washington Post • Apr. 26, 2013
"Punch," as a policeman, commanded the removal of the newly-erected "Griffin" in the place of Old Temple Bar: "Take away that Bauble!"
From The Confessions of a Caricaturist, Vol. 1 by Furniss, Harry
"Na," replied Bauble, standing still and looking about her as if to choose which way she should take.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XVI., December, 1880. by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
