gim·crack

(jĭm′krăk′)

A cheap and showy object of little or no use; a gewgaw.

adj.

Cheap and tasteless; gaudy: gimcrack souvenirs.

[Possibly alteration of Middle English gibecrake, small ornament.]

gim′crack′er·y n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gimcrack

(ˈdʒɪmˌkræk)

adj

cheap; shoddy

a cheap showy trifle or gadget

[C18: changed from C14 gibecrake little ornament, of unknown origin]

ˈgimˌcrackery n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

gim•crack

(ˈdʒɪmˌkræk)

n.

1. a showy, useless trifle; gewgaw; trinket.

adj.

2. showy but useless.

[1625–35; alter. of Middle English gib(e)crake; compare Middle English gibben to waver (< Old French giber to shake)]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	gimcrack - ornamental objects of no great value falderol, folderal, gimcrackery, nonsense, trumpery, frill decoration, ornament, ornamentation - something used to beautify
Adj.	1.	gimcrack - tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts"; "a meretricious yet stylish book"; "tawdry ornaments" flash, flashy, garish, gaudy, tawdry, trashy, brassy, cheap, loud, meretricious, tacky, tatty tasteless - lacking aesthetic or social taste

gimcrack

adjective cheap, vulgar, tacky (informal), tasteless, naff (Brit. slang), shoddy, gaudy, tawdry, trashy, rubbishy a gift shop selling gimcrack badges, keyrings and bottle openers

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

gimcrack

noun

A small showy article:

bauble, bibelot, gewgaw, knickknack, novelty, toy, trifle, trinket, whatnot.

Translations

gingillo

gimcrack

[ˈdʒɪmkræk] ADJ [furniture] → de pacotilla

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

gimcrack

adj → billig; furniture, toys also → minderwertig

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

gimcrack

[ˈdʒɪmˌkræk] adj (pej) → dozzinale

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

When he comes back he writes books--queer, odd books, they say, about some gimcrack he's found in them heathen countries.

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I had the smith's reverence now, because I was apparently immensely prosperous and rich; I could have had his adoration if I had had some little gimcrack title of nobility.

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Th' old squire looked up at this, and peered in his way at the screen, and said, 'One pound thirteen for a gimcrack like that!

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Almost the whole frontage was of gilt plaster and figured glass, and between that grey seascape and the grey, witch-like trees, its gimcrack quality had something spectral in its melancholy.

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The great altar of the cathedral and also three or four minor ones are a perfect mass of gilt gimcracks and gingerbread.

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You may be sure that she showed Rebecca over every room of the house, and everything in every one of her drawers; and her books, and her piano, and her dresses, and all her necklaces, brooches, laces, and gimcracks. She insisted upon Rebecca accepting the white cornelian and the turquoise rings, and a sweet sprigged muslin, which was too small for her now, though it would fit her friend to a nicety; and she determined in her heart to ask her mother's permission to present her white Cashmere shawl to her friend.

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I say, that easing a world of such misproud priests as thou art of their jewels and their gimcracks, is a lawful spoiling of the Egyptians.''

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"About antiquities, the old gimcracks that people pay so much for today.

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Only last week I broke one of his fine gimcracks up there, and all through Lady Clarinda and her flowers!"

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Going to York is not a worry as he won the Gimcrack there.

Dubai sprint rivals go head-to-head

FENDALE maintained his unbeaten record in the British Stallion Studs EBF Stallions Conditions Stakes at Musselburgh and booked his ticket for the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Gimcrack Stakes at York in the process.

Fendale's unbeaten sequence extended