bells and whistles

plural noun

|Updated on: 7 Aug 2018

Definition of bells and whistles

: items or features that are useful or decorative but not essential : frills

Recent Examples of bells and whistles from the Web

This dual-fan RX 580 features a 1,380 MHz base clock, a 1,435 MHz boost clock, and should deliver an impeccable 1080p gaming experience with all the in-game graphical bells and whistles enabled.

— ian paul, PCWorld, "ASRock's bundling an 8GB Radeon RX 580 graphics card with a B350 Ryzen motherboard for $300," 11 July 2018
This is why fans love this game so much, because of all the care and all the depth and all the bells and whistles.

— eric single, SI.com, "How Virtual Sports Illustrated Covers Made It Into EA Sports’s NCAA Football Series," 10 July 2018
Some of the new bells and whistles will include a new scoreboard and fan-friendly restrooms and retail space.

— craig hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, "See what the University of Houston's new Fertitta Center will look like soon," 22 June 2018
The company also offers a premium service ($30 a month) that comes with bells and whistles like a weekly email listing your performance stats and an option to upload documents for a full grammatical scrubbing.

— lisa wood shapiro, WIRED, "The End of Dyslexia," 18 June 2018
The app strips out much of the bells and whistles, offering a more space-saving experience for users with limited data plans, spottier connectivity, and slower than average internet speeds.

— andrew j. hawkins, The Verge, "Uber Lite is a slimmed down, 5MB version of the app for emerging markets," 12 June 2018
Although more expensive models offer a few more bells and whistles like the Oasis's waterproof design or the Voyage's auto-brightness, the Paperwhite offers the best balance of features and affordability.

— samantha gordon, USA TODAY, "Here are the 5 best Amazon deals right now," 12 June 2018
Uniqlo, which is owned by the Japanese giant Fast Retailing (a self-explanatory name if there ever was one), has not been a brand that brought bells and whistles to its partnerships, or that inflated the ego by creating noisy marketing campaigns.

— New York Times, "Roger Federer Wants to Win a New Game," 12 July 2018
Courtesy of Hitch Hotel Small campers have been in the spotlight the past few years, with manufacturers trying to fit as many bells and whistles into increasingly tiny trailers.

— megan barber, Curbed, "Tiny expandable camper costs just $4,500," 6 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bells and whistles.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.