Kriss Kringle

A form of Kris Kringle — Synonym of secret Santa (“a Christmas tradition where a group of people give anonymous gifts to each other, with each person randomly selected to give a gift to one other person; a person who anonymously gives a present to another in such a gift exchange”).

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Meanings

proper noun
  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of Kris Kringle.

    What if that other room, also, had its Christmas tree? What if in every room these evidences of Kriss Kringle’s more enterprising handiwork had already been obtruded?

    1878, Leonard Kip, “St. Nicholas and the Gnome”, in Hannibal’s Man and Other Tales. The Argus Christmas Stories, Albany, N.Y.: The Argus Company, printers, →OCLC, chapter III, page 331
    2 more examples

    The practice of hanging up stockings in the chimney corner for Kriss Kringle to fill with toys, pretty books, bon-bons, &c., for good children, is being superseded by that of placing a Christmas Tree on the table to await the annual visit of the worthy Santa Klaus.

    1847, “Advertisement”, in Kriss Kringle’s Christmas Tree. A Holiday Present for Boys and Girls, Philadelphia, Pa.: Published by Grigg & Elliot, →OCLC

    The Dutch of New Netherlands called the good giver of gifts, Kriss Kringle, the Christ Child, and the name came into our family vocabulary through our Dutch ancestor, Great-grandfather Wible.

    1937, Emma Hackett Knox, “Holidays”, in The Story of the Old Homestead: (The Smith-Hackett Homestead), [Rahway, N.J.]: Privately printed [by Quinn & Boden Co.], →OCLC, part II (The Owners and the Families that have Lived on the Old Homestead), pages 205–206
Cite this entry
APA

Kriss Kringle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kriss%20Kringle

MLA

“Kriss Kringle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kriss%20Kringle. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Kriss Kringle,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kriss%20Kringle.

Source: Kriss Kringle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.