05/08/2026
‘What's It?’ Wednesday
This week we found out what gimcrack is!
What is it?
It's a lovely old English word, around since the 15th century, which describes something flashy but inexpensive. It looks impressive but lacks real quality.
It would be something cheaply made, generally of little or no practical value and often imitates something much more expensive/valuable.
The exact origin is actually a tad uncertain but it's thought that it comes from:
"gim" (that's a hard ‘g’) which is an old word meaning neat, clever, or dainty;
and
"crack" - meaning a boast or something flashy.
Almost any decorative object could be described as a gimcrack if it is attractive at first glance but found to be made of cheap materials, poorly made or too flimsy.
So, that could be, typically, cheap gilt costume jewellery, mass-produced Victorian souvenirs or novelty mantelpiece ornaments. They’d be knickknacks and pretty but actually pretty worthless.
The term is still appropriate today for, say, cheap souvenirs, novelty gifts, some of the low quality costume jewellery that comes from China - anything that looks expensive but isn't.
To describe items as gimcrack would have been mildly insulting but, of course, because they were not valuable and often not kept, many antique gimcracks are now very collectable and ironically have a good value!
