different between gimcrack vs meretricious

English

Alternative forms

• jimcrack

Etymology

Unknown

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d???mk?æk/

Adjective

gimcrack (not comparable)

1. Showy but of poor quality; worthless.

Noun

gimcrack (plural gimcracks)

1. Something showy but worthless; a gimmick or bauble.
   • 1847–1848, William Thackeray, Vanity Fair:

     […] he came home to find […] honest Swartz in her favourite amber-coloured satin, with turquoise bracelets, countless rings, flowers, feathers, and all sorts of tags and gimcracks, about as elegantly decorated as a she chimney-sweep on May-day.

Derived terms

• gimcrackery

Verb

gimcrack (third-person singular simple present gimcracks, present participle gimcracking, simple past and past participle gimcracked)

1. (transitive) To put together quickly and without much care; to bodge.
2. (transitive) To embellish with gimcracks.

English

Etymology

From Latin meretr?cius, from meretr?x (“harlot, prostitute”), from mere? (“earn, deserve, merit”) (English merit) + -tr?x (“(female agent)”) (English -trix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m????t????s/, /?m????t????s/
• Rhymes: -???s

Adjective

meretricious (comparative more meretricious, superlative most meretricious)

1. Tastelessly gaudy; superficially attractive but having in reality no value or substance; falsely alluring.
   • 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador 2007, p. 164:

     When I lifted my eyes from the page, there was none of the meretricious argument London always offers that the sole real purpose in life is to hustle for a buck.

2. (law) Involving unlawful sexual connection or lack of consent by at least one party (said of a romantic relationship).
3. (obsolete) Of, or relating to prostitutes or prostitution.

Synonyms

• (tastelessly showy): brassy, cheap, flashy, garish, gaudy, gimcrack, tacky, tatty, tawdry, trashy

Related terms

• merit (see also: merit: related terms)

Translations