Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd
gimcrack was our Word of the Day on 04/04/2017. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of gimcrack in a Sentence
a remarkable amount of money is spent on gimcracks and other unnecessary items each year
that woman has enough gimcracks to fill up a novelty company's mail-order catalog
Did You Know?
Gimcrack is only one of many peculiar-sounding words that have pervaded our language to refer to something ornamental and of little value. Others include bauble, trinket, knickknack, gewgaw, kickshaw and tchotchke. Bauble appears to be the oldest among the group, with usage dating back to the 14th century. Gewgaw and kickshaw first appeared in the 16th century, whereas gimcrack and knickknack established themselves in the 17th century. Tchotchke, borrowed from the Yiddish, is by far the most recent addition to our language, only first appearing as an English word in the 1970s.
Origin and Etymology of gimcrack
origin unknown
Examples of gimcrack in a Sentence
a store plastered with “going out of business” signs and notorious for selling gimcrack merchandise
First Known Use of gimcrack
1715
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