gimcrack
Americannoun
adjective
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of gimcrack
1325–75 for earlier sense; Middle English gib ( e ) crake; compare Middle English gibben to waver (< Old French giber to shake)
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.
Gewgaw, a shiny trinket Bon Voyage A trinket or a knickknack, an ornament, a kickshaw, a frippery, a gimcrack, a bibelot, a gewgaw .
From Washington Post • Aug. 12, 2021
To call this tourist fare is merely to say that its appeal is generic and, yes, a bit gimcrack.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2018
True, much of commercial fiction, including some of the most successful titles, is gimcrack palaver.
From Slate • Mar. 7, 2017
With their showy, gimcrack splendour, his novels are the 19th-century equivalent of Hollywood tinsel.
From The Guardian • Jul. 17, 2013
So I’ll just place you on one of these gimcrack gilt chairs, and I’ll ask you to keep this one next, for me, until I make a raid on the table.
From Patty's Social Season by Wells, Carolyn
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.
