Adjacent Words

Gewgaw definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GEW'GAW, n. A showy trifle; a pretty thing of little worth; a toy; a bauble; a splendid plaything.
A heavy gewgaw, called a crown.
GEW'GAW, a. Showy without value.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing [syn: bangle, bauble, gaud, gewgaw, novelty, fallal, trinket]

Merriam Webster's

also geegaw noun Etymology: origin unknown Date: circa 1529 a showy trifle ; bauble, trinket

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a gaudy plaything or ornament; a bauble. Etymology: ME: orig. unkn.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gewgaw Gew"gaw, n. [OE. gigawe, gugawe, gewgaude, prob. the same word as OE. givegove gewgaw, apparently a reduplicated form fr. AS. gifan to give; cf. also F. joujou plaything, and E. gaud, n. See Give, and cf. Giffgaff.] A showy trifle; a toy; a splendid plaything; a pretty but worthless bauble. A heavy gewgaw called a crown. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gewgaw Gew"gaw, a. Showy; unreal; pretentious. Seeing his gewgaw castle shine. --Tennyson.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Bawble, trifle, trinket, toy, plaything, gaud, worthless piece of finery.

Moby Thesaurus

a continental, a curse, a damn, a darn, a hoot, agate, bagatelle, ball, baseball bat, bat, battledore, bauble, bean, bibelot, bijou, bit, blocks, brass farthing, bric-a-brac, button, cent, checkerboard, chessboard, club, cockhorse, cricket bat, cue, curio, doll, doll carriage, farce, farthing, feather, fig, fleabite, folderol, fribble, frippery, gaud, gimcrack, golf club, hair, halfpenny, hill of beans, hobbyhorse, jack-in-the-box, jacks, jackstones, jackstraws, jest, joke, kickshaw, knack, knickknack, knickknackery, marble, marionette, mig, minikin, mockery, molehill, novelty, paper doll, peppercorn, picayune, pick-up sticks, pin, pinch of snuff, pinprick, pinwheel, plaything, puppet, racket, rag doll, rap, red cent, rocking horse, row of pins, rush, shit, snap, sneeshing, sou, sport, steelie, straw, taw, teetotum, top, toy, toy soldier, trifle, trinket, triviality, tuppence, two cents, twopence, vanity, whatnot, whim-wham