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bling bling

bling bling

3 9.4
Expensive shiny jewelry or accessories worn to show wealth
  • noun
  • /blɪŋ blɪŋ/
  • Slang
translation icon : joyería ostentosa
  • He bought a new watch with all the bling bling to show off his wealth.

Examples

Synonyms

bling
vsbling bling
  • Slang
45 8.5

Shiny expensive jewelry worn to show wealth

includes accessories as well as jewelry
finery
vsbling bling
10 7.1

Fancy clothes and jewelry worn for a special occasion

is more about flashy expensive items worn to show off
statement piece
vsbling bling
1 6.0

A piece of clothing or jewelry that gets attention

focuses more on being expensive and ostentatious to display wealth

How Flashy

bling bling
  • Slang
3 9.4
decoration
92 1.0

Surface Forms

bling bling singular
bling blings plural

Morphology

bling + bling

The base noun 'bling' means ostentatious jewelry, and the reduplication 'bling bling' functions as a colloquial intensifier so the meaning ('very flashy/expensive jewelry or accessories') is directly inferable from the constituents. Reduplication as emphasis is a widespread, transparent compositional strategy (though informal), so a B1 learner who knows 'bling' would readily understand the intensified sense.

Etymology

Bling bling comes from hip-hop and from a copy of a quick, shiny sound: the short word bling copies a jewel's sparkle or a tiny bell, and repeating it makes the idea feel bigger. That's why bling bling means 'expensive, flashy jewelry' people wear to get attention.