gewgaw

noun

gew·​gaw ˈg(y)ü-(ˌ)gȯ How to pronounce gewgaw (audio)
variants or less commonly geegaw
: a showy trifle : bauble, trinket

Examples of gewgaw in a Sentence

had a shelf devoted just to gewgaws featuring his favorite team's mascot
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Words that foiled spellers included chrysal, athanor, cloxacillin, heliconius, torticollis, platylepadid and gewgaw, and at one point judges had to review a video replay to determine whether a speller said the letter I or Y. New York Times, 9 July 2021 And how nice to see Cynthia Erivo — to really see the woman and not have her overwhelmed by an elaborate mishmash of ruffles and gewgaws. Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2020 Loaded to the gills with all-wheel drive, digital gewgaws and two-tone leather interior, my racy coupe stickered for $62,000 — a healthy $20,000 cheaper than a comparable BMW M4 coupe. Tribune News Service, cleveland, 28 Dec. 2019 Giveaways are a universal phenomenon, but Silicon Valley has made free gewgaws and gadgets an integral part of its culture. Owen Thomas, SFChronicle.com, 24 July 2019 The nihilistic gewgaw, vacuous and vulgar, instead embodies the mythos that can be manufactured in a crude market-culture that primarily values art as a luxury asset. Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2019 Graphics: Your choice of desktop-class RTX 2060, 2070, or 2080 Display: Your choice of four 17.3-inch FHD (1920x1080) displays, with or without touch, with or without gewgaws like Tobii eye-tracking. Melissa Riofrio, PCWorld, 8 Jan. 2019 Bookstores should be designed to bring us closer together, not modeled after an open prairie dotted with books and assorted gewgaws — puzzles, Lego kits, Polaroid cameras. John Warner, chicagotribune.com, 6 June 2018 Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney have all won Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards and countless other prizes and gewgaws in the weeks leading up to the Oscars. Glenn Whipp, latimes.com, 20 Feb. 2018

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

circa 1529, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gewgaw was circa 1529

Dictionary Entries Near gewgaw

Cite this Entry

“Gewgaw.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gewgaw. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

gewgaw

noun
gew·​gaw ˈg(y)ü-gȯ How to pronounce gewgaw (audio)
: a thing of little worth : trinket
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