bric-a-brac
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of bric-a-brac
1830–40; < French, Middle French: literally, at random, without rhyme or reason; gradational compound from elements of obscure origin
Explanation
Bric-a-brac is knickknacks: little objects without any purpose except decoration. Some people love to collect bric-a-brac. Do you know anyone who collects little unicorn figurines or other small knickknacks? Then you know someone who likes bric-a-brac. Bric-a-brac consists of little odds and ends crafted by artists. This is a mass noun: it's plural without adding an s, standing for all sorts of tawdry trinkets. The nice thing about bric-a-brac is you always have room for more since they’re tiny. An arts and crafts festival is a great place to find all sorts of bric-a-brac.
Vocabulary lists containing bric-a-brac
The Summer of Lost Letters
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The Hiding Place
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The Ice Cream Machine
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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.
In the later paintings, he complicated the visual field by introducing still-life props and pieces of bric-a-brac — duck decoys, weather vanes, plastic inflatable chairs, fluorescent Mickey Mouse signs, model boats.
From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2022
As Norwich observes, you can chance upon worthy material not just in your reading but also in overheard conversations, advertisements, even on souvenir bric-a-brac.
From Washington Post • Dec. 15, 2022
As the plot gathers steam and accelerates, Johnson again offers a blunt evisceration of the privileged and powerful, only with fancier cocktails, showier bric-a-brac and gaudier outfits.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 22, 2022
A woman who found two portraits by a 20th Century British artist on a church bric-a-brac stall has described it as her "Fiona Bruce" moment.
From BBC • Aug. 5, 2022
Out went the ornate bric-a-brac, the austere furniture carved with the family crest.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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.
