Meanings
- derogatoryslanguncountablecomputingSoftware that is of shoddy or inferior quality.
1998, Larry Wall, quoted in "Open source gurus convene", C-Net E-Magazine, April 8, 1998. You'll do us all a big favor if you disassociate freeware from schlockware.
1 more example
As someone else wrote, "interesting thread you have here." Having worked in a group that has implemented 70,000 seats of M$ schlockware for a single customer, I can testify that having that many seats in your environment, barely draws any attention from the boyz in Redmond.
1997, Vincent M. Hanchon, “The best GUI that ever was”, in comp.sys.mac.advocacy (Usenet)
Origin
- Yiddishשלאַק
- Englishschlockware
From schlock (“shoddy or inferior commodity”) + -ware, from Yiddish שלאַק (shlak).
More words from Yiddish
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
schlockware. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schlockware
“schlockware.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schlockware. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “schlockware,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schlockware.
Source: schlockware on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.