kitsch

plural kitsches

1. uncountableusuallyArt, decorative objects, and other forms of representation of questionable artistic or aesthetic value; a representation that is excessively sentimental, overdone, or vulgar.

   Because it can be turned out mechanically, kitsch has become an integral part of our productive system in a way in which true culture could never be, except accidentally.

   1939, Clement Greenberg, “Avant Garde and Kitsch”, in The Partisan Review, archived from the original on 13 Oct 2007

   1 more example

   Gated, gilded and gaudy, they have sprung up all over China: overwrought government buildings erected at vast public expense, and in stark contrast to the shoddy state of so many homes and schools. In style they range from modernist brutalism to Versailles kitsch.

   2013 July 27, “Architectural bombast”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8846, archived from the original on 13 Dec 2013

   Synonyms: camp, campy, kitschy, schmaltzy

comparative kitscher · comparative more kitsch · superlative kitschest · superlative most kitsch

1. Of art and decor: of questionable aesthetic value; excessively sentimental, overdone or vulgar.

   Abe Lincoln, Paul Bunyan and kitsch souvenir coconut heads come across as icons of masculinity.

   June/July 1996, Robert Silberman, “The stuff of art: Judy Onofrio”, in American Craft, pages 40–45

   3 more examples

   […] a picture of lemur-eyed children of the sort one sees in the kitscher sort of Italian restaurant […]

   1989, Graham Greene, Yours etc: Letters to the Press 1945-1989, →ISBN, page 243

   I recognized her at once even though she wasn't wearing the tweed hunting outfit and the kitsch headwear.

   spring 2005, Ronald Frame, “Critical Paranoia”, in Michigan Quarterly Review, page 285

   We don’t see the design or construction of the Trojan Horse; instead, a kitsch, poorly designed horse (with no wheels) appears on the windswept beach as if dumped there by drone.

   2026 August 13, Emily Wilson, “An Uncomplicated Man”, in London Review of Books

   Synonyms: corny