pastiche

noun

pas·​tiche pa-ˈstēsh 

pä-

1

: a literary, artistic, musical, or architectural work that imitates the style of previous work

His building designs are pastiches based on classical forms.

also : such stylistic imitation

2

a

: a musical, literary, or artistic composition made up of selections from different works : potpourri

The research paper was essentially a pastiche made up of passages from different sources.

b

: hodgepodge

The house is decorated in a pastiche of Asian styles.

pasticheur

ˌpa-stē-ˈshər 

ˌpä-

noun

Did you know?

It all began with macaroni. Our word pastiche is from French, but the French word was in turn borrowed from Italian, where the word is pasticcio. Pasticcio is what the Italians called a kind of "macaroni pie" (from the word pasta). English-speakers familiar with this multilayered dish had begun to apply the name to various sorts of potpourris or hodgepodges (musical, literary, or otherwise) by the 18th century. For over a hundred years English speakers were happy with pasticcio, until we discovered the French word pastiche sometime in the latter part of the 1800s. Although we still occasionally use pasticcio in its extended meaning, "pastiche" is now much more common.

Synonyms

• agglomerate
• agglomeration
• alphabet soup
• assortment
• botch
• clutter
• collage
• crazy quilt
• farrago
• gallimaufry
• grab bag
• gumbo
• hash
• hodgepodge
• hotchpotch
• jambalaya
• jumble
• jungle
• litter
• macédoine
• medley
• mélange
• menagerie
• miscellanea
• miscellany
• mishmash
• mixed bag
• montage
• motley
• muddle
• olio
• olla podrida
• omnium-gatherum
• patchwork
• patchwork quilt
• potpourri
• ragbag
• ragout
• rummage
• salad
• salmagundi
• scramble
• shuffle
• smorgasbord
• stew
• tumble
• variety
• welter

Examples of pastiche in a Sentence

His earlier building designs were pastiches based on classical forms.

With this work she goes beyond pastiche.

The research paper was essentially a pastiche made up of passages from different sources.

The house is decorated in a pastiche of Asian styles.

Recent Examples on the Web

Now, researchers have discovered that the Iron Age weapons are actually pastiches: Not long ago, their original iron blades were replaced with bronze ones. —Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Oct. 2024

The Bitcoin white paper, which was released in October, 2008, and the Bitcoin code, which followed shortly thereafter, have at times been disdained as clever bits of engineering pastiche. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2024

The same year, Latitude’s AI Dungeon 2 — probably the most popular AI game yet created — presented an early OpenAI text model refined into the style of a classic text adventure parser, capable of drawing on its source material for a pastiche of nearly any genre and subject matter. —Adi Robertson, The Verge, 13 Sep. 2024

The music is contemporary pastiche — riffing on different genres and arranged in ways that recall the Pitch Perfect covers — and although a handful are memorable, thoughts of many fade with the credits. —Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019

Word History

Etymology

French, from Italian pasticcio

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined at sense 1