knickknack
Americannoun
Usage
What is a knickknack? A knickknack is a small decorative object, such as a little statue of a dog or a bobblehead.A knickknack is any keepsake, trinket, ornament, figure, or display piece that you own just to display it. Knickknacks can include small statues or figures, novelty candles or cups, and small toys. They can also include plastic figures based on pop culture, fidget devices such as cubes and spinners, stress balls, paperweights, and display boxes. Because knickknacks don’t take up much space, you generally don’t notice them much until you have so many that they clutter your space.Knickknacks are similar to gimcracks, which are showy, useless items, and the terms are often used interchangeably. The term bric-a-brac, another similar term, refers to small items that are collected for sentimental value, as a hobby, or for decorative purposes.Example: Every time I go to a garage sale, I come home with more knickknacks that clutter my shelves.
Other Word Forms
- knickknacked adjective
- knickknacky adjective
Etymology
Origin of knickknack
1610–20; gradational compound based on knack in obsolete sense “toy”
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.
Ken, who declined to give his last name, has worked as a sales associate at Bunkado, a knickknack shop in Little Tokyo, for several years.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2025
Alithea, a literary scholar on a work trip in Istanbul, is the latest fated candidate to summon the djinn — purchasing the blue and white glass bottle that contains him from a knickknack shop.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 23, 2022
A knickknack shelf by the entrance holds some waving lucky cats, a model motorcycle, a small collection of Uncle Lou baseball caps and what must be a month’s supply of Vita tea in individual cartons.
From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2022
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
At Miss Lizzy’s I dusted every knickknack in that big house.
From "Girls Like Us" by Gail Giles
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.
