kitsch
UK/kɪt͡ʃ/
kitsch noun: art, decorative objects, and other forms of representation of questionable artistic or aesthetic value; a representation that is excessively sentimental, overdone, or vulgar.
Noun
kitsch (usually uncountable, plural kitsches)
- Art, 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
Adjective
kitsch (comparative kitscher or more kitsch, superlative kitschest or most kitsch)
- Of art and decor: of questionable aesthetic value; excessively sentimental, overdone or vulgar.
- […] 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
- 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
- Synonyms:
- corny
kitsch meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Persian
kitsch in Tamil
- பகட்டுத் தோற்றம்
kitsch in Urdu
- عوامی, جعلی, نمائشی
kitsch in Persian
- art of questionable artistic value
- کیچ
Examples of kitsch in a sentence
- 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 of kitsch
Forms of kitsch
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | kitsches |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | kitscher |
| comparative | more kitsch |
| superlative | kitschest |
| superlative | most kitsch |
Origin of kitsch
From German Kitsch, from dialectal kitschen (“to coat, to smear”); the word and concept were popularized in the 1930s by several critics who contrasted it with avant-garde art.
Words formed from kitsch
Words that rhyme with kitsch
25 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about kitsch
- What does kitsch mean?
- Kitsch means art, decorative objects, and other forms of representation of questionable artistic or aesthetic value; a representation that is excessively sentimental, overdone, or vulgar.
- What is kitsch in Tamil?
- Kitsch in Tamil is பகட்டுத் தோற்றம். See Kitsch meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use kitsch in a sentence?
- I recognized her at once even though she wasn't wearing the tweed hunting outfit and the kitsch headwear.
- What part of speech is kitsch?
- Kitsch can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce kitsch?
- Kitsch is pronounced /kɪt͡ʃ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of kitsch?
- The plural of kitsch is kitsches.
Words near kitsch in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: kitsch (page history and authors); kitsch (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); kitsch (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-kitsch.ogg, en-au-kitsch.ogg.
Cite this entry: “kitsch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kitsch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.