gimcrack 1 of 2

Definition of gimcracknext
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
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
  • Taylor Farms says 40% of salad kits sold at grocery stores come from the company, giving it a massive role in supplying a convenient and cheap vegetable option for many shoppers.
    Brandon Gomez, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Successful validation Sodium is cheap, abundant, and chemically similar to lithium.
    Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 27 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • Select a fungicide labeled for leaf spots on ornamentals and follow the label.
    Tom MacCubbin, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Native species tend to establish faster and handle local climate stress better than ornamentals imported from other regions.
    Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Charlotte Observer, 30 July 2026
Adjective
  • Across state and federal lands, accommodations designated for Black Americans were routinely and nakedly inferior, relegated to remote, underdeveloped parcels or mosquito-prone swamplands.
    Kimmie Gordon, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
  • But those three road losses were either in the postseason to a top-two team, at Oregon or the inexplicable 2024 loss to a far inferior Michigan team in The Game.
    Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • So are the Catholic lawn ornaments and gardens sprouting eggplants and figs.
    Rachel Corbett, Curbed, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Naomi, who was born to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother, wore a Nike kit beneath its layers and completed her look with a traditional kanzashi hair ornament and Mikimoto jewelry.
    Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 28 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • But even without it, there seems to be some truth to the idea that if these teams were terrible businesses, they wouldn’t be sold for billions of dollars.
    Evan Drellich, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Not by tightening the siege on Iran directly, but by tightening the siege on those who help this regime, this terrible dictatorship.
    Mustafa Qadri, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Dozens of companies have withdrawn over the past decades due to poor profits, an uncertain business outlook and concerns about harm to their reputations from making arms, especially lethal weapons.
    Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Along the way, the audience can expect tons of humiliation, terrible second prizes, and the guarantee that Robertson will turn at least one poor soul's wrong turn into several minutes of unhinged public destruction.
    Rebecca Rosman, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • His last Netflix partnership, the miniseries Zero Day, put up rotten scores.
    Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Always bury the rotten fruit in the center of your compost pile to help mask the smell and deter unwanted animals.
    SJ McShane, Martha Stewart, 29 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Poor Anton has been left out of the drama all day, an effort by Billie and Samir to prevent an already bad futzing from escalating to something severe, and that’s never where Anton likes to be.
    Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Although rarely seen, its reemergence earlier this summer is a signal of how bad the region’s ongoing drought has gotten, as well as a warning for the difficult months ahead.
    Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 27 Aug. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Gimcrack.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gimcrack. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster