gimmick

noun

gim·mick | \ ˈgi-mik

Definition of gimmick

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : a mechanical device for secretly and dishonestly controlling gambling apparatus

b : an ingenious or novel mechanical device : gadget

2a : an important feature that is not immediately apparent : catch … few readers would look for a gimmick in an advertisement featuring airline schedules, but few would fail to look for the fine print in an ad announcing New Low-Price Fares.— Robert L. Heilbroner

b : an ingenious and usually new scheme or angle Even in professional careers, mere competence and craftsmanship is no substitute for a gimmick.— James Poniewozik

c : a trick or device used to attract business or attention a marketing gimmick

gimmick

verb

gimmicked; gimmicking; gimmicks

Definition of gimmick (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to alter or influence by means of a gimmick

2 : to provide with a gimmick —often used with up

Other Words from gimmick Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about gimmick

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Examples of gimmick in a Sentence

Noun

The proposal to cut taxes was just an election gimmick to win votes. that free magazine subscription they offer is just a sales gimmick to get you to buy their product

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The clothes, including a slip dress meant to be worn with the ease of a T-shirt, were desirably streamlined and without gimmick, the kind that come alive on the body and are best accessorized with character. — Laird Borrelli-persson, Vogue, "Girl Crush Alert: Meet Five of the Beauties Tommy Ton Cast for His Womenswear Debut at Deveaux," 11 Sep. 2018 And speaking of gimmicks, there are a lot of them in this movie. — Cady Drell, Marie Claire, "This Week in Timothée Chalamet, July 27 Edition," 27 July 2018 And when Momoa made his debut in Justice League, his character’s gruff new gimmick offered a nice contrast with the goofiness of Aquaman’s fish-whispering superpower, especially when the jokes came at the expense of tough Curry himself. — Alex Abad-santos, Vox, "Aquaman goes for broke and lands somewhere between overstuffed marine opera and cheesy comic book fun," 11 Dec. 2018 Anaheim’s franchise, built off a popular Walt Disney Co. movie starring Emilio Estevez, was considered a gimmick team after making the playoffs just twice their first nine seasons. — Geoff Baker, The Seattle Times, "Mixed results: A half-century of trial and error with NHL expansion franchises," 5 Dec. 2018 This goofy gimmick should have been free from the jump. — Jason Gay, WSJ, "Refund Madness! Tiger & Phil’s Vegas Bogey," 25 Nov. 2018 Lee’s carny gimmick was transparently a schtick, but that’s part of the fun. — Noah Berlatsky, The Verge, "The larger-than-life huckster dialogue of Stan Lee," 13 Nov. 2018 And of course the Kimye gimmick kept on giving — even Elle magazine got in on it: Okay, admittedly, some of these are breaking our hearts a little. — Aja Romano, Vox, "Twitter users are turning to clickbait to get out the vote," 18 Oct. 2018 In fact, his label famously used his mug shot as publicity stills, a move that was part gimmick and part necessity. — Gerrick D. Kennedy, latimes.com, "XXXTentacion, controversial rapper who broke out amid legal troubles, dead at 20," 19 June 2018

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