pastiche

play

noun pas·tiche \ pa-ˈstēsh , pä- \

Definition of pastiche

1 :a literary, artistic, musical, or architectural work that imitates the style of previous work

His building designs are pastiches based on classical forms.

; also :such stylistic imitation

2 a :a musical, literary, or artistic composition made up of selections from different works :potpourri

The research paper was essentially a pastiche made up of passages from different sources.

b :hodgepodge

The house is decorated in a pastiche of Asian styles.

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pasticheur

play \ˌpa-stē-ˈshər, ˌpä-\ noun

See pastiche defined for English-language learners

pastiche was our Word of the Day on 10/08/2013. Hear the podcast!

Examples of pastiche in a Sentence

His earlier building designs were pastiches based on classical forms.
With this work she goes beyond pastiche.
The research paper was essentially a pastiche made up of passages from different sources.
The house is decorated in a pastiche of Asian styles.

Recent Examples of pastiche from the Web

He's pulled off something with understated elegance here, reimagining quaint Mario series tunes as counterintuitively contemplative orchestral pastiches with Jerry Goldsmith-esque twists and flourishes.

— matt peckham, Time, "Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle," 28 Aug. 2017
A pastiche of meddlesome characters with names like Bunny and Tabitha begin quizzing Guillam about wrongful deaths caused by lawless spies, and demanding that secret records be unearthed and exhibited in court.

— david ignatius, The Atlantic, "John le Carré Goes Back Into the Cold," 8 Aug. 2017
Most interesting, though, was the plain fact of Rota's distinctive musical voice, which came through in the passages that trafficked least in pastiche.

— zachary lewis, cleveland.com, "Burning River Baroque letting listeners choose their own adventure with 'At a Crossroads' (preview)," 8 Aug. 2017
This witty pastiche of detective movies of the 1940s features a cast of 32 and won six 1990 Tony Awards, including best musical.

— andrea simakis, cleveland.com, "Summer theater guide: From 'Carrie' to 'The Testament of Mary,' the season sizzles," 13 July 2017
Yet Blood Drive is not a response to the dystopian fears of 2017, but a pastiche of old dystopias.

— sarah marshall, New Republic, "Blood Drive Misses Out on Everything Good About Gore," 23 June 2017
Volkswagen, that most mainstream of car brands, couldn't let its 21 million-selling Beetle lie -- so almost 60 years after the original entered production, the German brand started building a pastiche of it, called the New Beetle.

— john mcilroy, CNN, "Why car manufacturers turn to archives for 'new' ideas," 4 June 2017
Using a pastiche of classic and recent news images mixed with live performance footage, Moore even manages to slip in a mocking bit of Kendall Jenner's infamous Pepsi commercial fiasco.

— gil kaufman, The Hollywood Reporter, "Michael Moore Directs Prophets of Rage Music Video for "Unf— the World"," 1 June 2017
The dialogue is a pastiche of classic Hollywood, with plenty of knowing winks at the audience.

— christine pivovar, kansascity.com, "‘The Ballad of Lefty & Crabbe’ at the Living Room is a musical comedy worth savoring," 29 May 2017

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

Did You Know?

It all began with macaroni. Our word pastiche is from French, but the French word was in turn borrowed from Italian, where the word is pasticcio. Pasticcio is what the Italians called a kind of "macaroni pie" (from the word pasta). English-speakers familiar with this multilayered dish had begun to apply the name to various sorts of potpourris or hodgepodges (musical, literary, or otherwise) by the 18th century. For over a hundred years English speakers were happy with pasticcio, until we discovered the French word pastiche sometime in the latter part of the 1800s. Although we still occasionally use pasticcio in its extended meaning, "pastiche" is now much more common.

Origin and Etymology of pastiche

French, from Italian pasticcio

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1866

See Words from the same year

pastiche Synonyms

Synonyms

agglomerate, agglomeration, alphabet soup, assortment, botch, clutter, collage, crazy quilt, farrago, gallimaufry, grab bag, gumbo, hash, hodgepodge, hotchpotch, jambalaya, jumble, jungle, litter, macédoine, medley, mélange, menagerie, miscellanea, mishmash, mixed bag, montage, motley, muddle, olio, olla podrida, omnium-gatherum, miscellany, patchwork, patchwork quilt, potpourri, ragbag, ragout, rummage, salad, salmagundi, scramble, shuffle, smorgasbord, stew, tumble, variety, welter

Other Fine Arts Terms

Gothic, baroque, bas-relief, limn, oeuvre, rococo, sfumato

PASTICHE Defined for English Language Learners

pastiche

play

noun

Definition of pastiche for English Language Learners

: something (such as a piece of writing, music, etc.) that imitates the style of someone or something else
: a piece of writing, music, etc., that is made up of selections from different works
: a mixture of different things