costume jewelry

American  

noun

1. jewelry made of nonprecious metals, sometimes gold-plated or silver-plated, often set with imitation or semiprecious stones.

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Etymology

Origin of costume jewelry

An Americanism dating back to 1930–35

Example Sentences

After two years of mostly small exchanges — cookbook galleys, costume jewelry, a set of dinner plates with just the right heft — we brought home something that, improbably, shifted the cadence of our cooking.

From Salon • Aug. 19, 2025

The initial idea was to showcase her costume jewelry alone, but the museum later asked Apfel to dip into her own wardrobe to style the mannequins that the jewelry would adorn.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2024

Birrittieri-Parente, a single parent who appreciates the bargains offered by sites like Marketplace, has accumulated more than 90 pieces of costume jewelry.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 7, 2023

Now, however, factories produced clothing, shoes, cookware, furniture, soap, toys, books, musical instruments, and costume jewelry in such quantities that they could be sold at prices the working class could afford.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

To check out the makeup and the cheap costume jewelry and the candy aisle, and to find the teen magazines to slowly pore over and discuss.

From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English