variants
also geegaw
as in bauble
a small object displayed for its attractiveness or interest
had a shelf devoted just to gewgaws featuring his favorite team's mascot
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Recent Examples of gewgaw
Words that foiled spellers included chrysal, athanor, cloxacillin, heliconius, torticollis, platylepadid and gewgaw, and at one point judges had to review a video replay to determine whether a speller said the letter I or Y.
—
New York Times, 9 July 2021
And how nice to see Cynthia Erivo — to really see the woman and not have her overwhelmed by an elaborate mishmash of ruffles and gewgaws.
—Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2020
Loaded to the gills with all-wheel drive, digital gewgaws and two-tone leather interior, my racy coupe stickered for $62,000 — a healthy $20,000 cheaper than a comparable BMW M4 coupe.
—Tribune News Service, cleveland, 28 Dec. 2019
Giveaways are a universal phenomenon, but Silicon Valley has made free gewgaws and gadgets an integral part of its culture.
—Owen Thomas, SFChronicle.com, 24 July 2019
The nihilistic gewgaw, vacuous and vulgar, instead embodies the mythos that can be manufactured in a crude market-culture that primarily values art as a luxury asset.
—Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2019
Graphics: Your choice of desktop-class RTX 2060, 2070, or 2080
Display: Your choice of four 17.3-inch FHD (1920x1080) displays, with or without touch, with or without gewgaws like Tobii eye-tracking.
—Melissa Riofrio, PCWorld, 8 Jan. 2019
Bookstores should be designed to bring us closer together, not modeled after an open prairie dotted with books and assorted gewgaws — puzzles, Lego kits, Polaroid cameras.
—John Warner, chicagotribune.com, 6 June 2018
Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney have all won Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards and countless other prizes and gewgaws in the weeks leading up to the Oscars.
—Glenn Whipp, latimes.com, 20 Feb. 2018
New York Times, 9 July 2021
And how nice to see Cynthia Erivo — to really see the woman and not have her overwhelmed by an elaborate mishmash of ruffles and gewgaws.
—Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2020
Loaded to the gills with all-wheel drive, digital gewgaws and two-tone leather interior, my racy coupe stickered for $62,000 — a healthy $20,000 cheaper than a comparable BMW M4 coupe.
—Tribune News Service, cleveland, 28 Dec. 2019
Giveaways are a universal phenomenon, but Silicon Valley has made free gewgaws and gadgets an integral part of its culture.
—Owen Thomas, SFChronicle.com, 24 July 2019
The nihilistic gewgaw, vacuous and vulgar, instead embodies the mythos that can be manufactured in a crude market-culture that primarily values art as a luxury asset.
—Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2019
Graphics: Your choice of desktop-class RTX 2060, 2070, or 2080
Display: Your choice of four 17.3-inch FHD (1920x1080) displays, with or without touch, with or without gewgaws like Tobii eye-tracking.
—Melissa Riofrio, PCWorld, 8 Jan. 2019
Bookstores should be designed to bring us closer together, not modeled after an open prairie dotted with books and assorted gewgaws — puzzles, Lego kits, Polaroid cameras.
—John Warner, chicagotribune.com, 6 June 2018
Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney have all won Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards and countless other prizes and gewgaws in the weeks leading up to the Oscars.
—Glenn Whipp, latimes.com, 20 Feb. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gewgaw
Noun
-
On Sunday, traders of every nationality were already scouring its labyrinthine International Trade City, colloquially known as simply Yiwu Market, for samples of festive baubles and tinsel.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
28 Mar. 2025
-
Perez said the Legislature needs to resist the shiny new baubles dangled in front of them by lobbyists and special interest groups and cut unnecessary spending.—
Jeffrey Schweers,
The Orlando Sentinel,
26 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
But visitors are not subjected to the usual avenue of stores hawking overpriced tchotchkes.—
Todd Anderson,
New York Times,
5 Apr. 2025
-
Rather than a fluffy bathrobe or counters covered in oils and lotions, the room was adorned with educational posters and tchotchkes.—
Kayla Blanton,
Outside Online,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
If that’s true, then sure, waste wall space in your kitchen for knickknacks.—
Sherry Kuehl,
Kansas City Star,
5 Mar. 2025
-
This backpack's interior is nicely organized with pen holders, a mesh pocket, and a few other slots for your knickknacks, plus a padded section for a 16-inch laptop.—
Adrienne So,
WIRED,
13 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
January is a multiplex clearance sale, littered with horror movies as gimcrack as the unsold toys wheeled out after the holidays.—
A.A. Dowd,
Chron,
5 Jan. 2023
-
The movie works hard to be a soulfully offbeat kiddie entertainment, an antidote to the gimcrack cynicism that has ruled too many cartoon-cutup-in-the-land-of-live-action Hollywood products.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
6 Oct. 2022
Noun
-
Companion plants for ornamentals such as hydrangeas are selected for aesthetic purposes.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
5 Apr. 2025
-
Multipurpose nasturtiums can be grown for their edible flowers and leaves, or enjoyed as pollinator-friendly ornamentals.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
12 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The top tier has a 40-inch-wide surface area, which is large enough to place magazines and trinkets on one side and a tray with snacks and drinks on the other for entertaining.—
Rachel Trujillo,
People.com,
27 Mar. 2025
-
The store straddles a mood between Californian cool and British rock-star lair, with eyewear displayed amid vintage books and charming trinkets, like a ceramic cigar-smoking Winston Churchill.—
Miles Socha,
WWD,
17 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
At the other end is the caricature, butt of flabby jokes, trussed in Las Vegas gaud, voice prostituted to a huge orchestra.—
San Diego Union-Tribune,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Aug. 2019
-
Even its colors, silver and space gray, seem to have been chosen for their lack of gaud—no blingy gold model here.—
David Pierce,
WIRED,
3 Nov. 2017
Noun
-
The painting then remained in the artist’s possession and out of public sight until it was bought, in 1927, as a chic bibelot for a swanky members-only social club in London.—
Peter Schjeldahl,
The New Yorker,
9 May 2022
-
Bruno Magli’s luxe nappa leather bibelot upgrades the standard-issue, white plastic AirPods case.—
Kareem Rashed,
Robb Report,
16 Nov. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Gewgaw.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gewgaw. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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