gimmick
[gim-ik]
noun
an ingenious or novel device, scheme, or stratagem, especially one designed to attract attention or increase appeal.
a concealed, usually devious aspect or feature of something, as a plan or deal: An offer that good must have a gimmick in it somewhere.
a hidden mechanical device by which a magician works a trick or a gambler controls a game of chance.
Electronics Informal. a capacitor formed by intertwining two insulated wires.
verb (used with object)
to equip or embellish with unnecessary features, especially in order to increase salability, acceptance, etc. (often followed by up): to gimmick up a sports car with chrome and racing stripes.
verb (used without object)
to resort to gimmickry, especially habitually.
RELATED CONTENT
RELATED WORDS
maneuver, stratagem, gadget, ploy, ruse, trick, fun, instrument, artifice, device, stunt, method, gizmo, dodge, widget, apparatus, means, imposture, shift, fixture
Nearby words
- gimlet,
- gimlet eye,
- gimmal,
- gimme,
- gimme cap,
- gimmickery,
- gimmickry,
- gimmicky,
- gimp,
- gimpy
Origin of gimmick
An Americanism dating back to 1925–30; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for gimmick
gimmick
noun
Word Origin for gimmick
C20: originally US slang, of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
gimmick
1926 (in Maine & Grant's "Wise-Crack Dictionary," which defines it as "a device used for making a fair game crooked"), American English, perhaps an alteration of gimcrack, or an anagram of magic.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper