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gimcrack

 - 3 dictionary results

gim⋅crack

  [jim-krak]
Use gimcrack in a Sentence
–noun
1. a showy, useless trifle; gewgaw.
–adjective
2. showy but useless.
Origin:
1325–75 for earlier sense; ME gib(e)crake; cf. ME gibben to waver (< OF giber to shake)

Synonyms:
1. bauble, knickknack, trinket, ornament.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To gimcrack
gim·crack   (jĭm'krāk')   
n.  A cheap and showy object of little or no use; a gewgaw.
adj.  Cheap and tasteless; gaudy: "The shelves groan with an array of gimcrack gifts from fans: a stuffed piranha fish ... a ceramic ... bull, a papier-mâché replica of an Apollo moonwalker" (Harry F. Waters).

[Possibly alteration of Middle English gibecrake, small ornament.]
gim'crack'er·y n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

gimcrack 
1618, "showy person," sense of "trifle" first recorded 1839, of uncertain origin, perhaps alteration of gibecrake "a kind of ornament" (1360), perhaps from O.Fr. giber "to rattle, shake" + M.E. crak "sharp noise, crack." In 18c.-19c. it also meant "a person who has a turn for mechanical contrivances."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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