Meanings
plural pastiches
- countableuncountableA work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist, usually in a positive or neutral way.
He argued that the failure of the future was constitutive of a postmodern cultural scene which, as he correctly prophesied, would become dominated by pastiche and revivalism.
2009, Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism - countableuncountableAn incongruous mixture; a hodgepodge.
This supposed research paper is a pastiche of passages from unrelated sources.
1 more example
The house failed to attract a buyer because the decor was a pastiche of Bohemian and Scandinavian styles.
- uncountableA postmodern playwriting technique that fuses a variety of styles, genres, and story lines to create a new form.
present singular third person pastiches · participle present pastiching · participle past pastiched · past pastiched
- To create or compose in a mixture of styles.
That the genetic code of the platypus proved to be as bizarrely pastiched as its anatomy enhanced the popular appeal of the report, published in the journal Nature.
2008 May 13, Natalie Angier, “A Gene Map for the Cute Side of the Family”, in New York Times
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna musical composition consisting of a series of songs or other musical pieces from various sources
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπαστά“barley porridge”
- Late Latinpasta“dough, pastry cake, paste”
- Vulgar Latin*pastīcius
- Italianpasticcio“pie, something blended”
- Frenchpastiche
- Englishpastiche
Via French pastiche, from Italian pasticcio (“pie, something blended”), from Vulgar Latin *pastīcius, from Late Latin pasta (“dough, pastry cake, paste”), from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá, “barley porridge”), from παστός (pastós, “sprinkled with salt”). Doublet of pasticcio.
More words from French, Italian, Vulgar Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan pastitx, pastitx
- pastitxwork that imitates the work of a previous artist
- pastitxincongruous mixture; a hodgepodge
Czech pastiš
- pastišwork that imitates the work of a previous artist
Danish pastiche, potpourri
- pastichework that imitates the work of a previous artist
- potpourrimusical medley
Dutch pastiche, mengelmoes
- pastichework that imitates the work of a previous artist
- mengelmoesincongruous mixture; a hodgepodge
Esperanto pastiĉo, pastiĉo
- pastiĉowork that imitates the work of a previous artist
- pastiĉomusical medley
- mikspotoincongruous mixture; a hodgepodge
Finnish pastissi, potpuri
- pastissiwork that imitates the work of a previous artist
- potpurimusical medley
- sekasotkuincongruous mixture; a hodgepodge
French pastiche, pastiche
- pastichework that imitates the work of a previous artist
- pastichemusical medley
German Pastiche, Potpourri
- Pastichework that imitates the work of a previous artist
- Potpourrimusical medley
Japanese パスティーシュ
- パスティーシュ (pasutīshu)work that imitates the work of a previous artist
Korean 파스티슈
- 파스티슈 (paseutisyu)work that imitates the work of a previous artist
Norwegian pastisj
- pastisjwork that imitates the work of a previous artist
Polish pastisz
- pastiszwork that imitates the work of a previous artist
Portuguese pastiche, pasticho
- pastichework that imitates the work of a previous artist
- pastichowork that imitates the work of a previous artist
- pot-pourrimusical medley
Romanian pastișă
- pastișăwork that imitates the work of a previous artist
Russian стилиза́ция, пасти́ш
- стилиза́ция (stilizácija)work that imitates the work of a previous artist
- пасти́ш (pastíš)work that imitates the work of a previous artist
- имита́ция (imitácija)work that imitates the work of a previous artist
- попурри́ (popurrí)musical medley
- мешани́на (mešanína)incongruous mixture; a hodgepodge
- смесь (smesʹ)incongruous mixture; a hodgepodge
Spanish pastiche
- pastichework that imitates the work of a previous artist
Swedish pastisch
- pastischwork that imitates the work of a previous artist
Turkish pastiş
- pastişwork that imitates the work of a previous artist
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with pastiche
Anagrams
Cite this entry
pastiche. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pastiche
“pastiche.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pastiche. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pastiche,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pastiche.
Source: pastiche on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.