brummagem

American  

[bruhm-uh-juhm] / ˈbrʌm ə dʒəm /

adjective

1. showy but inferior and worthless.

---

noun

1. a showy but inferior and worthless thing.

Brummagem British  

/ ˈbrʌmədʒəm /

noun

1. Often shortened to: Brum.  an informal name for Birmingham

2. (sometimes not capital) something that is cheap and flashy, esp imitation jewellery

---

adjective

1. (sometimes not capital) cheap and gaudy; tawdry

Etymology

Origin of brummagem

First recorded in 1675–85; local variant of Birmingham, England (compare Bromwichham, Bromecham (17th century), Middle English Burmingeham ); originally in allusion to counterfeit coins produced there in the 17th century

Example Sentences

To the feeble hope, ordinarily, of some sort of brummagem Utopia of creature-comforts, characterized by equality of condition, uniformity of life and thought, pervasive state regulation and the obliteration of traditional morality.

From Time Magazine Archive

More than that, she has lived a life so rich in history that, by comparison, the attractive twentysomethings the Food Network so desperately wants to turn into stars seem like brummagem pretenders.

From Time Magazine Archive

Climax of the whole brummagem business was the "Zoro Gardens."

From Time Magazine Archive

The audience descended safely, opened their eyes, found themselves once more in the brummagem Astor ballroom.

From Time Magazine Archive

But our New York brummagem “duchesses” of yesterday are less liberal in their condescensions.

From The Arena Volume 4, No. 20, July, 1891 by Flower, B. O. (Benjamin Orange)