Definition of tchotchke
From the M-W Editors
tchotchke was our Word of the Day on 02/28/2013. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of tchotchke in a Sentence
a bedroom with polka-dot curtains, flowery wallpaper, and shelves cluttered with tchotchkes from a lifetime of vacations
Recent Examples of tchotchke from the Web
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In the current guerrilla war over elusive mindshare, tchotchkes are a first line of attack – which helps explain why the schwag industry has enjoyed double-digit growth each year for the past decade.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tchotchke'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Just as trinkets can dress up your shelves or coffee table, many words for "miscellaneous objects" or "nondescript junk" decorate our language. Knickknack, doodad, gewgaw, and whatnot are some of the more common ones. While many such words are of unknown origin, we know that tchotchke comes from the Yiddish tshatshke of the same meaning, and ultimately from a now-obsolete Polish word, czaczko. Tchotchke is a pretty popular word these days, but it wasn't commonly used in English until the 1970s.
Origin and Etymology of tchotchke
Yiddish tshatshke trinket, from obsolete Polish czaczko
First Known Use: 1971
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for tchotchke
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