gimcrack
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈɡɪmˌkræk/
- Archaic
:
baratija
- Mind telling me how you're supposed to talk to the monsters with only those two gimcracks stuck to your skull?
Examples
-
The shelves in the store were filled with gimcrack, each piece more colorful and worthless than the last.
-
He tried to teach them how important books are, but kids today only care about electronic geegaws and gimcracks.
Fiction book (2001) -
Outside class, I'm God's own forgotten gimcrack, sitting alone by the sparkling pool.
Fiction book (1997) -
So far, it looks like there are no bus lanes getting installed, and probably no signal priority, but lots of money is being spent on gimcrack.
Blog text (8) -
Buy some cheap gimcrack and send it along as this nonexistent woman's personal possession.
Fiction book (1992) -
Next, he beefed up their security with a few gimcracks that weren't part of the standard GI package.
Fiction book (2000) -
Bowen's reticence extends to holding back from judgment, so that we are usually expected to detect the gimcrack and the meretricious for ourselves.
Academic text (2000) -
She decorated her room with gimcrack that she bought at the flea market, even though it served no real purpose.
-
After browsing the tourist shop, he realized all he had purchased were cheap gimcracks that would soon be forgotten.
Synonyms
16
4.2
A small cheap object people keep to decorate a home
8
9.9
A small inexpensive decorative object kept as a souvenir
7
9.9
Poor-quality items that are not worth buying
2
4.4
A low-cost fake of a brand-name item that looks like the real thing but is lower quality
2
9.9
Something of little or no worth
Cheap fancy items that look attractive but have little value
Cheap objects that look nice but have little value
Small decorative things that have little value
Small decorative things that have little value
A small object kept for decoration rather than use
Antonyms
How Valuable
Surface Forms
Etymology
Gimcrack names a showy but worthless trinket, and its exact origin is unclear. A helpful way to remember it is to think of gim sounding like gem and crack meaning 'broken', so a 'broken gem' looks nice but has little value, which is why gimcrack means a cheap ornament.