gimcrack

/'dʤimkræk/

Học thuật

Thân thiện

The market stall was piled high with cheap gimcracks and trinkets.

Definition

Adjective:
- Tastelessly showy, cheaply made, and of poor quality: Used to describe something that is designed to look flashy or attractive but is actually of low quality, poorly constructed, and often considered tacky or vulgar.
- Meretricious: Having a false or superficial attractiveness; deceptive in appearance.
Noun:
- A cheap and showy object of little or no value: A decorative item or trinket that is gaudy, poorly made, and not worth much.

Usage Examples

Adjective:
- The market was full of gimcrack souvenirs that fell apart after a day.
- He avoided the gimcrack jewelry, preferring simple, well-made pieces.
Noun:
- Her shelves were cluttered with colorful gimcracks collected from various tourist traps.
- The room was decorated with gimcracks that looked expensive but were actually worthless.

Advanced Usage

Used as a modifier: The word is often used directly before a noun to criticize its quality.
- They lived in a gimcrack apartment building that was already falling into disrepair.
Implied criticism: Using "gimcrack" often carries a tone of disdain or contempt for something that is seen as a cheap imitation or a tasteless attempt at style.

Variants and Related Words

Gimcrackery (noun): A collective term for gimcrack items or the quality of being gimcrack.
- The store's display was pure gimcrackery, designed to dazzle rather than last.

Synonyms

Adjective: Gaudy, tawdry, flashy, garish, meretricious, cheap, shoddy, tacky, brummagem.
Noun: Trinket, bauble, knickknack, gewgaw, ornament, novelty.

Antonyms

Adjective: Tasteful, elegant, refined, high-quality, durable, well-made, authentic.
Noun: Heirloom, treasure, masterpiece, artifact.

Related Idioms and Phrases

While there are no common idioms using "gimcrack" as the core word, the concept is central to phrases like:
- All that glitters is not gold: This proverb warns that not everything that looks shiny or attractive is valuable, which is the essence of something gimcrack.

The market stall was piled high with cheap gimcracks and trinkets.

Adjective

Noun

Từ đồng nghĩa