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
2a : 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.
Explore Merriam-Webster
pastiche was our Word of the Day on 10/08/2013. Hear the podcast!
Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
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
-
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.
-
The dialogue is a pastiche of classic Hollywood, with plenty of knowing winks at the audience.
-
The Nintendo World Championships used a pastiche of small snippets of the three games, and a strict, total time limit of 6 minutes, 21 seconds.
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
PASTICHE Defined for English Language Learners
pastiche
playDefinition 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
Learn More about pastiche
-
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for pastiche Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about pastiche
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up pastiche? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!