Jump To:

• brummagem
  brummagem

  adjective

  showy but inferior and worthless.
• Brummagem
  Brummagem

  noun

  an informal name for Birmingham

brummagem

American  

[bruhm-uh-juhm] / ˈbrʌm ə dʒəm /

adjective

1. showy but inferior and worthless.

---

noun

1. a showy but inferior and worthless thing.

Brummagem British  

/ ˈbrʌmədʒəm /

noun

1. Often shortened to: Brum. an informal name for Birmingham

2. (sometimes not capital) something that is cheap and flashy, esp imitation jewellery

---

adjective

1. (sometimes not capital) cheap and gaudy; tawdry

Etymology

Origin of brummagem

First recorded in 1675–85; local variant of Birmingham, England (compare Bromwichham, Bromecham (17th century), Middle English Burmingeham ); originally in allusion to counterfeit coins produced there in the 17th century

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brummagem Brummagem

Climax of the whole brummagem business was the "Zoro Gardens."

From Time Magazine Archive

The audience descended safely, opened their eyes, found themselves once more in the brummagem Astor ballroom.

From Time Magazine Archive

Rosary-like, 202-page addenda to Author-Naturalist Peattie's An Almanac for Moderns, brummagem "classic."

From Time Magazine Archive

Theatre needs all the expert make-up and massage that Playwrights Bolton & Maugham know how to apply, all the stage presence and vivacity that Cornelia Otis Skinner brings to the role of the brummagem heroine.

From Time Magazine Archive

I had spent a day in exploring Colombo— visiting Arabi Pasha, inspecting Hindu temples, watching the jugglers and snake-charmers, evading guides and the sellers of brummagem jewellery, and idling in the Cinnamon Gardens.

From Mrs. Falchion, Volume 1. by Gilbert Parker

An early work of his, "Brummagem," was performed in PNB's 1978 "Summer Inventions" workshop, but he soured on the company after PNB reneged on a promise to provide live music for the piece.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2012

This here little dog once belonged to a gemman who lived at Hands worth, just outside of Brummagem.

From The Young Dragoon Every Day Life of a Soldier by A.W. Drayson

I dare say they're some Brummagem people—some Fudge family or other—on their travels.

From Beatrice Boville and Other Stories by Ouida

There's Mr. Joseph Brummagem, now, fancy my having to kneel at his feet, and take his measure!

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 93. July 30, 1887 by

The derelicts of fashion are the staple of small-talk; they are suggestive of all the little social smartness one hears, and of that very Brummagem morality which assumes to judge them.

From One Of Them by Charles James Lever

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---