Meaning
Art, objects, or design regarded as tasteless, overly sentimental, or gaudy, yet often enjoyed precisely because of those qualities. In art criticism the word is dismissive, but in everyday English it is frequently affectionate, praising things that are charmingly tacky or 'so bad they are good' - a notably softer stance than the contempt the German term carried. Critical register in art contexts, affectionate or ironic elsewhere; 'kitschy' can now function as a backhanded compliment. Regional use: General English (borrowed from German).
Origin
German kitsch labelled trashy, sentimental, mass-produced work and became a term of art-world abuse. Merriam-Webster's word history says it was popularised by Munich painters and art dealers of the 1860s and 1870s and connects it to German kitschen 'to slap together' or, less flatteringly, 'to scrape up mud from the street', while conceding the origin is debated. The Online Etymology Dictionary derives it from dialectal kitschen 'to smear' and finds it in English as early as 1921, when Edward J. Dent's essay in The Living Age presented it as an untranslatable German word, quoting a German speaker's claim that 'England is the great country of Kitsch'; Merriam-Webster dates first known use to 1921 and the Online Etymology Dictionary treats it as naturalised by 1926.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- kitch
- kitschy
Usage Examples
- The lobby was decorated with so much kitsch that the plastic flamingos barely registered.
- Critics dismissed his velvet paintings as kitsch, but collectors snapped them up.
- There is a fine line between retro charm and outright kitsch, and this diner hops back and forth across it.