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Synonyms

kitsch

American  
[kich] / kɪtʃ /

noun

  1. something of tawdry design, appearance, or content created to appeal to popular or undiscriminating taste.

kitsch British  
/ kɪtʃ /

noun

    1. tawdry, vulgarized, or pretentious art, literature, etc, usually with popular or sentimental appeal

    2. ( as modifier )

      a kitsch plaster bust of Beethoven
"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
kitsch Cultural  

  1. Works of art and other objects (such as furniture) that are meant to look costly but actually are in poor taste.

Discover More

Kitsch in literature and music is associated with sentimentalism as well as bad taste.

Other Word Forms

  • kitschy adjective

Etymology

Origin of kitsch

First recorded in 1925–30; from German, derivative of kitschen “to throw together (a work of art)”

Explanation

Kitsch is art that's garish, nostalgic, and very low-brow. Some people who love the aesthetics of souvenir culture think kitsch is really cool, while others think it's in very poor taste. Kitsch is a German word that's been adopted into English, meaning "worthless, trashy art," or the quality of that art. A ceramic figurine of a puppy with sad eyes is pretty kitsch, as is a velvet Elvis painting. Of course some people think that kitsch is really beautiful and fill their homes with stuff that other people consider trashy souvenirs. If your painting teacher tells you your portraits are kitsch, that's probably not a compliment.

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Vocabulary lists containing kitsch

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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.

Nicola Brighton is among those making a living from the trend, creating kitsch prints and neon mirrors in unique shapes which are stocked in stores across the UK and US.

From BBC • Dec. 13, 2025

As Luis says of his own version of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” playing in his head, “Call it kitsch, call it camp — I don’t care, I love it.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025

The Robin Hood legend is one that can always stand up to a retelling, though remaking anything like the ’38 “Adventures of Robin Hood”—at least in the same tone of voice—would result in kitsch.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

I was never a fan of Cracker Barrel’s food, Stuckey’s candies or the kitsch you had to wade through if you had the misfortune of spending time at either establishment.

From Salon • Aug. 29, 2025

The truck stop was a wonderland of Southern kitsch.

From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.