kitsch
noun
ˈkich 
1
: something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality
2
: a tacky or lowbrow quality or condition
teetering on the brink of kitsch
Ron Miller
Ron Miller kitschy
ˈki-chē
adjective 
Did you know?
Kitsch is an early 20th-century borrowing from German, and it refers to things in the realm of popular culture that are tacky, like car mirror dice, plastic flamingos, and dashboard hula dancers.
Example Sentences
The restaurant is decorated with 1950s furniture and kitsch from old TV shows.
Recent Examples on the Web The former home of high-kitsch male fantasy was going to become … the new Betty Friedan? New York Times, 13 July 2022 Pastiches and reboots of the French ancien régime have become a favorite of the global collecting class, especially from Flora Yukhnovich (b. 1990), who cites the rapper Doja Cat as an influence for her Rococo-meets-Photoshop kitsch. New York Times, 23 May 2022 The dish is so charged with seaside kitsch that inside the Ferry Building, Hog Island Oyster Company doesn’t even use the word on the menu. New York Times, 2 May 2022 Unlike Sammy’s Roumanian (God rest her soul), the Russian Samovar has never trafficked in its own kitsch. Sloane Crosley, Town & Country, 23 Jan. 2022 Perhaps there’s an intentional element of over-the-top kitsch in the galumphing orgiastic dance that ends Act I, but, if so, James Darrah, who directed the première production, didn’t capitalize on the opportunity. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2021 For nearly a century before Walt Disney’s dream theme park landed in Orlando, tourists were taking trains, boats and cars around the Sunshine State, enjoying roadside shows and Floridian kitsch along the way. Patrick Connolly, orlandosentinel.com, 26 May 2021 Crowe’s mess of incongruous pop imagery makes Show Them the Way the ultimate in Hollywood liberal political kitsch, although triggered by Nicks’s uneasy lyrical musings at her Hamptons abode. Armond White, National Review, 28 Oct. 2020 For all its witch kitsch, Salem is one of the few places that has properly recognized its history. Joseph Prezioso, National Geographic, 23 Oct. 2020 See More
New York Times, 13 July 2022 Pastiches and reboots of the French ancien régime have become a favorite of the global collecting class, especially from Flora Yukhnovich (b. 1990), who cites the rapper Doja Cat as an influence for her Rococo-meets-Photoshop kitsch. New York Times, 23 May 2022 The dish is so charged with seaside kitsch that inside the Ferry Building, Hog Island Oyster Company doesn’t even use the word on the menu. New York Times, 2 May 2022 Unlike Sammy’s Roumanian (God rest her soul), the Russian Samovar has never trafficked in its own kitsch. Sloane Crosley, Town & Country, 23 Jan. 2022 Perhaps there’s an intentional element of over-the-top kitsch in the galumphing orgiastic dance that ends Act I, but, if so, James Darrah, who directed the première production, didn’t capitalize on the opportunity. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2021 For nearly a century before Walt Disney’s dream theme park landed in Orlando, tourists were taking trains, boats and cars around the Sunshine State, enjoying roadside shows and Floridian kitsch along the way. Patrick Connolly, orlandosentinel.com, 26 May 2021 Crowe’s mess of incongruous pop imagery makes Show Them the Way the ultimate in Hollywood liberal political kitsch, although triggered by Nicks’s uneasy lyrical musings at her Hamptons abode. Armond White, National Review, 28 Oct. 2020 For all its witch kitsch, Salem is one of the few places that has properly recognized its history. Joseph Prezioso, National Geographic, 23 Oct. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
German
First Known Use
1921, in the meaning defined at sense 1
kitsch 1 of 2
noun
as in junk
something that is of low quality but that many people find amusing and enjoyable The restaurant is decorated with 1950s furniture and kitsch from old TV shows. Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- junk
- cheese
- rubbish
- trash
- camp
- dreck
- tripe
- sleaze
- claptrap
- nonsense
- drek
- bomb
- crapola
- turkey
- humbug
- slop
- lemon
- muck
- stinker
- dud
- slush
- clunker
- clinker
- shambles
- mess
- muddle
kitsch
2 of 2adjective
as in kitschy
Synonyms & Similar Words
- kitschy
- garish
- gaudy
- tawdry
- meretricious
- ostentatious
- glitzy
- tacky
- showy
- swank
- flashy
- tinselly
- schlock
- tasteless
- lurid
- splashy
- cheesy
- vulgar
- gimcrack
- trashy
- brummagem
- tacky
- trumpery
- inelegant
- swanky
- junky
- rubbishy
- shlock
- cheapjack
- mediocre
- shoddy
- schlocky
- cheap
- shlocky
- shabby
- bum
- graceless
- sleazy
- execrable
- crappy
- low-rent
- terrible
- seedy
- inferior
- rotten
- poor
- coarse
- lousy
- low-grade
- counterfeit
- cut-rate
- common
- miserable
- bargain-basement
- fake
- phony
- sham
- second-rate
- wretched
- bad
- el cheapo
- phoney
- indifferent
- lackluster
- ultracheap
- supercheap
- second-class
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- tasteful
- elegant
- handsome
- handcrafted
- refined
- polished
- fine
- superior
- good
- excellent
- high-grade
- first-rate
- first-class
- top-notch