as in cheap
of low quality
a store plastered with "going out of business" signs and notorious for selling gimcrack merchandise
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in ornamental
a small object displayed for its attractiveness or interest
a remarkable amount of money is spent on gimcracks and other unnecessary items each year their apartment has enough gimcracks to fill up a novelty company's warehouse
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of gimcrack
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
The inevitable flood tide of gimcrack Biden souvenirs has yet to start in earnest, but there are some.
—New York Times, 6 Dec. 2020
So will the border continue to vanish in the face of nativist backlash and a trumpery, gimcrack wall?
—Felipe Fernández-Armesto, WSJ, 25 June 2018
Science fiction on the screen had been pinched, gimcrack, borderline laughable.
—Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 10 May 2018
The designer Vicki Mortimer has created a set that feels like a gimcrack warehouse, full of old ladders and lights and puppet-stage-like window frames.
—Ben Brantley, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2016
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
The inevitable flood tide of gimcrack Biden souvenirs has yet to start in earnest, but there are some.
—New York Times, 6 Dec. 2020
So will the border continue to vanish in the face of nativist backlash and a trumpery, gimcrack wall?
—Felipe Fernández-Armesto, WSJ, 25 June 2018
Science fiction on the screen had been pinched, gimcrack, borderline laughable.
—Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 10 May 2018
The designer Vicki Mortimer has created a set that feels like a gimcrack warehouse, full of old ladders and lights and puppet-stage-like window frames.
—Ben Brantley, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gimcrack
Adjective
-
These Golden Hour Savings deals bring these loafers’ price tag down to as low as $52, which is much cheaper than most leather (or vegan leather) loafers.—
Katie Decker-Jacoby,
StyleCaster,
26 June 2025
-
However, thimerosal is more common elsewhere in the world for various multi-dose vaccine vials, which are cheaper than the single-dose vials more commonly used in the US.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
26 June 2025
Noun
-
To maintain healthy ornamentals that bloom abundantly, avoid pruning these 10 plants in summer.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
17 June 2025
-
Today, crabapple trees—tough ornamentals native to the Central Asian mountains—blanket Detroit.—
Sarah Durn,
Popular Science,
5 June 2025
Adjective
-
Told that Indigenous people were evolutionarily inferior to white Europeans and Americans, visitors accepted the idea that colonialist progress would soon condemn these groups to extinction.—
Shoshi Parks,
Smithsonian Magazine,
20 June 2025
-
The Pacers are just way more inferior and the Thunder got stagnant all of a sudden.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
17 June 2025
Adjective
-
Rarely great, and consistently cringey in that NHL way we’re used to by now, but rarely terrible.—
Sean McIndoe,
New York Times,
28 June 2025
-
Even the ones that aren’t strictly evil in the biblical sense are often prone to doing terrible things.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
27 June 2025
Adjective
-
Due to poor cell reception in the area, 911 calls kept dropping as witnesses scrambled to reach first responders.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
17 June 2025
-
Orlik, who was seventy-seven, was in poor health and desperate to get his pictures back.—
Sam Knight,
New Yorker,
17 June 2025
Adjective
-
In two particularly egregious examples involving baby products described to CNBC, Amazon sent customers used diapers and a chiller with someone else’s rotten breastmilk inside.—
Katie Tarasov,
CNBC,
21 June 2025
-
The smell won’t be as sweet, maybe a little rotten.—
Jessica Farthing,
Southern Living,
21 June 2025
Adjective
-
Commercial or bulk matcha is often a dull yellowish or brown color, coarse in texture, and noticeably bitter.—
Devorah Lev-Tov,
Vogue,
20 June 2025
-
The best conditioners for gray hair help with this shift by targeting brassiness and yellow undertones, dullness, and dry or coarse textures.—
Jessie Quinn,
Glamour,
11 June 2025
Adjective
-
After several months of strong economic news but incredibly weak consumer sentiment, America is starting to see those trends reverse: The vibes are on the rebound, but evidence is mounting that the economy is getting worse.—
David Goldman,
CNN Money,
28 June 2025
-
In your garden, stink bugs can be a real bad problem...—
Steve Bender,
Southern Living,
28 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gimcrack.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gimcrack. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share