Word Study
gimcrack
CIDE DICTIONARY
gimcrack, n. [OE., a spruce and pert pretender, also, a spruce girl, prob. fr. gim + crack lad, boaster.].
- A trivial mechanism; a device. Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster]
- A toy; a pretty thing; an ornamental object of no great value. [WordNet 1.5]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
gimcrack, adj. & n.
--adj. showy but flimsy and worthless.
--n. a cheap showy ornament; a knick-knack.
--adj. showy but flimsy and worthless.
--n. a cheap showy ornament; a knick-knack.
Derivative
gimcrackery n. gimcracky adj.
Etymology
ME gibecrake a kind of ornament, of unkn. orig.
THESAURUS
gimcrack
a continental, a curse, a damn, a darn, a hoot, agate, apparatus, bagatelle, ball, baseball bat, bat, battledore, bauble, bean, bibelot, bit, blocks, brass farthing, bric-a-brac, button, cent, checkerboard, chessboard, club, cockhorse, contraption, contrivance, cricket bat, cue, curio, device, doll, doll carriage, farce, farthing, feather, fig, fleabite, folderol, fribble, frippery, gadget, gaud, gewgaw, gimmick, gizmo, golf club, hair, halfpenny, hand tool, hill of beans, hobbyhorse, implement, instrument, jack-in-the-box, jacks, jackstones, jackstraws, jest, joke, kickshaw, knack, knickknack, knickknackery, marble, marionette, means, mechanical device, mig, minikin, mockery, molehill, novelty, paper doll, peppercorn, picayune, pick-up sticks, pin, pinch of snuff, pinprick, pinwheel, plaything, power tool, precision tool, puppet, racket, rag doll, rap, red cent, rocking horse, row of pins, rush, shit, snap, sneeshing, sou, speed tool, sport, steelie, straw, taw, teetotum, tool, top, toy, toy soldier, trifle, trinket, triviality, tuppence, two cents, twopence, utensil, whatnot, whim-whamROGET THESAURUS
gimcrack
Unimportance
N unimportance, insignificance, nothingness, immateriality, triviality, levity, frivolity, paltriness, poverty, smallness, vanity, matter of indifference, no object, nothing, nothing to signify, nothing worth speaking of, nothing particular, nothing to boast of, nothing to speak of, small matter, no great matter, trifling matter, mere joke, mere nothing, hardly anything, scarcely anything, nonentity, small beer, cipher, no great shakes, peu de chose, child's play, kinderspiel, toy, plaything, popgun, paper pellet, gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, trinket, bagatelle, Rickshaw, knickknack, whim-wham, trifle, trifles light as air, yankee notions, trumpery, trash, rubbish, stuff, fatras, frippery, leather or prunello, chaff, drug, froth bubble smoke, cobweb, weed, refuse, scum, joke, jest, snap of the fingers, fudge, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, pack of nonsense, mere farce, straw, pin, fig, button, rush, bulrush, feather, halfpenny, farthing, brass farthing, doit, peppercorn, jot, rap, pinch of snuff, old son, cent, mill, picayune, pistareen, red cent, minutiae, details, minor details, small fry, dust in the balance, feather in the scale, drop in the ocean, flea-bite, molehill, nine days' wonder, ridiculus mus, flash in the pan, much ado about nothing, unimportant, of little account, of small account, of no account, of little importance, of no importance, immaterial, unessential, nonessential, indifferent, subordinate, mediocre, passable, fair, respectable, tolerable, commonplace, uneventful, mere, common, ordinary, inconsiderable, so-so, insignificant, inappreciable, trifling, trivial, slight, slender, light, flimsy, frothy, idle, puerile, airy, shallow, weak, powerless, frivolous, petty, niggling, piddling, peddling, fribble, inane, ridiculous, farcical, finical, finikin, fiddle-faddle, fingle-fangle, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, milk and water, poor, paltry, pitiful, contemptible, sorry, mean, meager, shabby, miserable, wretched, vile, scrubby, scrannel, weedy, niggardly, scurvy, putid, beggarly, worthless, twopennyhalfpenny, cheap, trashy, catchpenny, gimcrack, trumpery, one- horse, not worth the pains, not worth while, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, not worth a thought, not worth a curse, not worth a straw, beneath notice, unworthy of notice, beneath regard, unworthy of regard, beneath consideration, unworthy of consideration, de lana caprina, vain, slightly, rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably, for aught one cares, Int, no matter!, pish!, tush!, tut!, pshaw!, pugh!, pooh, pooh-pooh!, fudge!, bosh!, humbug!, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end!, fiddlededee!, never mind!, n'importe!, what signifies it, what boots it, what of it, what of that, what matter, what's the odds, a fig for', stuff!, nonsense!, stuff and nonsense, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, it matters not, it does not signify, it is of no consequence, it is of no importance, elephantus non capit murem, tempete dans un verre d'eau, unimportance, insignificance, nothingness, immateriality, triviality, levity, frivolity, paltriness, poverty, smallness, vanity, matter of indifference, no object, nothing, nothing to signify, nothing worth speaking of, nothing particular, nothing to boast of, nothing to speak of, small matter, no great matter, trifling matter, mere joke, mere nothing, hardly anything, scarcely anything, nonentity, small beer, cipher, no great shakes, peu de chose, child's play, kinderspiel, toy, plaything, popgun, paper pellet, gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, trinket, bagatelle, Rickshaw, knickknack, whim-wham, trifle, trifles light as air, yankee notions, trumpery, trash, rubbish, stuff, fatras, frippery, leather or prunello, chaff, drug, froth bubble smoke, cobweb, weed, refuse, scum, joke, jest, snap of the fingers, fudge, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, pack of nonsense, mere farce, straw, pin, fig, button, rush, bulrush, feather, halfpenny, farthing, brass farthing, doit, peppercorn, jot, rap, pinch of snuff, old son, cent, mill, picayune, pistareen, red cent, minutiae, details, minor details, small fry, dust in the balance, feather in the scale, drop in the ocean, flea-bite, molehill, nine days' wonder, ridiculus mus, flash in the pan, much ado about nothing, unimportant, of little account, of small account, of no account, of little importance, of no importance, immaterial, unessential, nonessential, indifferent, subordinate, mediocre, passable, fair, respectable, tolerable, commonplace, uneventful, mere, common, ordinary, inconsiderable, so-so, insignificant, inappreciable, trifling, trivial, slight, slender, light, flimsy, frothy, idle, puerile, airy, shallow, weak, powerless, frivolous, petty, niggling, piddling, peddling, fribble, inane, ridiculous, farcical, finical, finikin, fiddle-faddle, fingle-fangle, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, milk and water, poor, paltry, pitiful, contemptible, sorry, mean, meager, shabby, miserable, wretched, vile, scrubby, scrannel, weedy, niggardly, scurvy, putid, beggarly, worthless, twopennyhalfpenny, cheap, trashy, catchpenny, gimcrack, trumpery, one- horse, not worth the pains, not worth while, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, not worth a thought, not worth a curse, not worth a straw, beneath notice, unworthy of notice, beneath regard, unworthy of regard, beneath consideration, unworthy of consideration, de lana caprina, vain, slightly, rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably, for aught one cares, Int, no matter!, pish!, tush!, tut!, pshaw!, pugh!, pooh, pooh-pooh!, fudge!, bosh!, humbug!, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end!, fiddlededee!, never mind!, n'importe!, what signifies it, what boots it, what of it, what of that, what matter, what's the odds, a fig for', stuff!, nonsense!, stuff and nonsense, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, it matters not, it does not signify, it is of no consequence, it is of no importance, elephantus non capit murem, tempete dans un verre d'eau.Weakness
N weakness, debility, atony, relaxation, languor, enervation, impotence, infirmity, effeminacy, feminality, fragility, flaccidity, inactivity, anaemia, bloodlessness, deficiency of blood, poverty of blood, declension of strength, loss of strength, failure of strength, delicacy, invalidation, decrepitude, asthenia, adynamy, cachexy, cachexia, sprain, strain, reed, thread, rope of sand, house of cards, softling, weakling, infant, youth, weak, feeble, debile, impotent, relaxed, unnerved sapless, strengthless, powerless, weakly, unstrung, flaccid, adynamic, asthenic, nervous, soft, effeminate, feminate, womanly, frail, fragile, shattery, flimsy, unsubstantial, insubstantial, gimcrack, gingerbread, rickety, creaky, creaking, cranky, craichy, drooping, tottering, broken, lame, withered, shattered, shaken, crazy, shaky, palsied, decrepit, languid, poor, infirm, faint, faintish, sickly, dull, slack, evanid, spent, short-winded, effete, weather-beaten, decayed, rotten, worn, seedy, languishing, wasted, washy, laid low, pulled down, the worse for wear, unstrengthened, unsupported, unaided, unassisted, aidless, defenseless, cantilevered (support), on its last legs, weak as a child, weak as a baby, weak as a chicken, weak as a cat, weak as a rat, weak as water, weak as water gruel, weak as gingerbread, weak as milk and water, colorless, non sum qualis eram.Ornament
N ornament, floridness c, adj, turgidity, turgescence, altiloquence, declamation, teratology, well-rounded periods, elegance, orotundity, inversion, antithesis, alliteration, paronomasia, figurativeness, flourish, flowers of speech, flowers of rhetoric, frills of style, euphuism, euphemism, big-sounding words, high-sounding words, macrology, sesquipedalia verba, Alexandrine, inflation, pretension, rant, bombast, fustian, prose run mad, fine writing, sesquipedality, Minerva press, phrasemonger, euphuist, euphemist, ornament, beautified, ornate, florid, rich, flowery, euphuistic, euphemistic, sonorous, high-sounding, big-sounding, inflated, swelling, tumid, turgid, turgescent, pedantic, pompous, stilted, orotund, high flown, high flowing, sententious, rhetorical, declamatory, grandiose, grandiloquent, magniloquent, altiloquent, sesquipedal, sesquipedalian, Johnsonian, mouthy, bombastic, fustian, frothy, flashy, flaming, antithetical, alliterative, figurative, artificial, ore rutundo, ornament, ornamentation, ornamental art, ornature, ornateness, adornment, decoration, embellishment, architecture, jewelry, garnish, polish, varnish, French polish, veneer, japanning, lacquer, gilding, plating, ormolu, enamel, cloisonn_e, cosmetics (in general), makeup, eye shadow, rouge, face powder, lipstick, blush, pattern, diaper, powdering, paneling, graining, pargeting, detail, repousse (convexity), texture, richness, tracery, molding, fillet, listel, strapwork, coquillage, flourish, fleur-de-lis, arabesque, fret, anthemion, egg and tongue, egg and dart, astragal, zigzag, acanthus, cartouche, pilaster, bead, beading, champleve ware, cloisonne ware, frost work, Moresque, Morisco, tooling, embroidery, brocade, brocatelle, galloon, lace, fringe, trapping, border, edging, trimming, hanging, tapestry, arras, millinery, ermine, drap d'or, wreath, festoon, garland, chaplet, flower, nosegay, bouquet, posy, daisies pied and violets blue, tassel knot, shoulder knot, apaulette, epaulet, aigulet, frog, star, rosette, bow, feather, plume, pompom, panache, aigrette, finery, frippery, gewgaw, gimcrack, tinsel, spangle, clinquant, pinchbeck, paste, excess of ornament, gaud, pride, illustration, illumination, vignette, fleuron, head piece, tail piece, cul-de-lampe, flowers of rhetoric, work of art, ornamented, beautified, ornate, rich, gilt, begilt, tesselated, festooned, champleve, cloisonne, topiary, smart, gay, trickly, flowery, glittering, new gilt, new spangled, fine as a Mayday queen, fine as a fivepence, fine as a carrot fresh scraped, pranked out, bedight, well-groomed, in full dress, dressed to kill, dressed to the nines, dressed to advantage, in Sunday best, en grand tenue, en grande toilette, in best bib and tucker, endimanche, showy, flashy, gaudy, garish, gairish, gorgeous, ornamental, decorative, becoming.Ridiculousness
N ridiculousness, comicality, oddity, extravagance, drollery, farce, comedy, burlesque, buffoonery, frippery, doggerel verses, absurdity, bombast, anticlimax, bathos, eccentricity, monstrosity, laughingstock, ridiculous, ludicrous, comical, droll, funny, laughable, pour rire, grotesque, farcical, odd, whimsical, whimsical as a dancing bear, fanciful, fantastic, queer, rum, quizzical, quaint, bizarre, screaming, eccentric, strange, outlandish, out of the way, baroque, weird, awkward, extravagant, outre, monstrous, preposterous, bombastic, inflated, stilted, burlesque, mock heroic, drollish, seriocomic, tragicomic, gimcrack, contemptible, doggerel, ironical, risible, risum teneatis amici, rideret Heraclitus, du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas.Brittleness
N brittleness, fragility, friability, frangibility, fissibility, house of cards, house of glass, brittle, brash, breakable, weak, frangible, fragile, frail, gimcrack, shivery, fissile, splitting, lacerable, splintery, crisp, crimp, short, brittle as glass.For further exploring for "gimcrack" in Webster Dictionary Online