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Showing results for gewgaw. Search instead for gewgawed.
Synonyms

gewgaw

American  
[gyoo-gaw, goo-] / ˈgyu gɔ, ˈgu- /
Also geegaw

noun

  1. something gaudy and useless; trinket; bauble.


gewgaw British  
/ ˈɡuː-, ˈɡjuːɡɔː /

noun

  1. a showy but valueless trinket

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. showy and valueless; gaudy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • gewgawed adjective

Etymology

Origin of gewgaw

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English giuegaue; gradational compound of uncertain origin; perhaps akin to Middle French, French gogo (see (à) gogo )

Explanation

A gewgaw is a little ornament or piece of jewelry. Gewgaws are cheap and don't have any purpose besides decoration. Gewgaws, which go on clothing or are worn as jewelry, are small and ornamental little bits of decoration. They’re not valuable or useful. A diamond would never be considered a gewgaw, because it's so precious. Gewgaws are good for brightening up an outfit. Pieces of jewelry, especially when they're flashy and cheap, can be called gewgaws. The silly sound of this word is a reminder that gewgaws are insubstantial. A gewgaw can also be called a bauble, novelty, or trinket.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing gewgaw

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In 2017, she arranged to have a ceremonial resin “orb,” apparently a gewgaw given to donors and other honorees that she designed, delivered to Epstein.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2024

This apparent stance toward art is at once moronic and apt; moronic because it reduces art to a mere gewgaw, apt because other entrepreneurs have already embraced this view.

From New York Times • Dec. 1, 2021

Incredibles 2 treats this question like a philosophical gewgaw, to be considered only until boredom sets in.

From Slate • Jun. 15, 2018

A few years ago, apparently based on some agreement that Americans were seriously lacking monograms, retailers decided that any gewgaw that could be mailed, toted or gifted was worthy of an emphatic initial or three.

From Washington Post • Dec. 11, 2015

To him probably, even in his youth, it had been a woman's gewgaw, useless, but allowable as tending to her happiness.

From The Vicar of Bullhampton by Trollope, Anthony