variants or schlocky also shlock or shlocky
Definition of schlocknext

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 schlock Well, people have always written schlocky or formulaic books. Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 10 June 2026 Yet despite their cultural staying power, power ballads have historically received little scholarly attention, in part because they are often dismissed as schlocky and banal. Angelica Frey, JSTOR Daily, 22 May 2026 Deliberately schlocky and over-the-top, the production is a mere backdrop for the psychodrama happening off set between Elle and her costar Dominique (Havana Rose Liu), a girl her own age who’s also unfortunately her stepmother. Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 19 May 2026 Quentin Tarantino’s outrageous revisionist Western is wildly over-the-top, combining the director’s penchant for gratuitous violence and sparkling dialogue with a story that’s pleasingly labyrinthine but nothing if not schlocky. Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Apr. 2026 But that shift is still recent, and decades of cultural baggage — from sexist slasher stereotypes to schlocky late-night programming — continue to shape perception. Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 17 Mar. 2026 The film finally returns to Dracula’s castle, where four stone gargoyles come to life, and where there is bad swordplay, schlocky cannon fire, and a fortune-cookie theological lecture from Waltz’s Priest. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 7 Feb. 2026 In one of the most heartwarming sequences a flashback shows these young film buffs shooting one of their shlocky Big Foot-esque monster movies. Randy Myers, Mercury News, 24 Dec. 2025 For one thing, it was produced for half a million dollars, resulting a charmingly schlocky and handmade product that greatly appealed to kids hoping to get into the business one day. Josh Weiss, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for schlock
Adjective
  • The revolution won’t come cheap.
    Alex Veiga, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2026
  • Across six online experiments, the researchers showed participants a cheaper lower-quality item such as a sweater alongside a pricier higher-quality version.
    Ryan Brennan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 June 2026
Adjective
  • Thank you to everyone who read or contributed to this column over the years, who reached out to me with story ideas or tips, or complimented my terrible artwork.
    Zach Wichter, USA Today, 1 July 2026
  • Visitors will see his Rough Riders uniform; the 1884 diary grieving his terrible loss; and the eyeglasses case, speech and shirt from the 1912 assassination attempt against him.
    CBS News, CBS News, 1 July 2026
Adjective
  • Because of that, these hands suffer from high production costs, poor durability against impacts, short operational lifespans, and there are no existing solutions that engineers can readily draw upon, Wang added.
    John Liu, CNN Money, 30 June 2026
  • The extreme heat can also affect people who are physically ill, especially those with heart disease or high blood pressure, or who take certain medications, such as for depression, insomnia, or poor circulation.
    Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 29 June 2026
Adjective
  • More broadly, the idea that White players are inherently inferior no longer matches reality.
    Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 July 2026
  • This is because Austria would have remained on three points but with an inferior goal difference to Iran in the third-place standings (minus one to zero).
    Eduardo Tansley, New York Times, 28 June 2026
Adjective
  • To be fair, the DCEU, the preceding web of films, had nearly half of its movies land rotten scores.
    Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026
  • Big Red might be a braggart, a bully and rotten to the core, but Lasdun invokes Thomas De Quincey’s neat point about how a man’s capacity to rob says nothing about his propensity to murder.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 June 2026
Adjective
  • In two randomized trials conducted by Stanford economist Nick Bloom, for example, workers reported improved mental health, not worse.
    Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 29 June 2026
  • Heavy rain was bad enough, but lightning in the area is, obviously, nothing to be trifled with.
    Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 29 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Schlock.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/schlock. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.

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