tchotchke
noun
tchotch·ke ˈchäch-kə 
-kē,
ˈtsäts- plural tchotchkes
: knickknack, trinket
Carlene's furniture was garish and awful and every shelf or corner held tchotchkes and gewgaws and other tacky trinkets.
Ingrid Law
Ingrid Law… collecting every sort of art, from Old Masters to precious textiles, from rare books and manuscripts to antique tchotchkes. Diane Wood Middlebrook
Diane Wood MiddlebrookStill crowding his apartment and warehouses is an assemblage that includes pre-Columbian and African statuary, Charles Eames chairs, bent-wood furniture, postage stamps, patent models, busts of Roman emperors and, Wilder readily admits, tchotchkes. Susan Reed and Doris Bacon
Susan Reed and Doris Bacon
Did you know?
Just as trinkets can dress up your shelves or coffee table, many words for "miscellaneous objects" or "nondescript junk" decorate our language. Knickknack, doodad, gewgaw, and whatnot are some of the more common ones. While many such words are of unknown origin, we know that tchotchke comes from the Yiddish tshatshke of the same meaning, and ultimately from a now-obsolete Polish word, czaczko. Tchotchke is a pretty popular word these days, but it wasn't commonly used in English until the 1970s.
Synonyms
- bauble
- bibelot
- curio
- curiosity
- doodad
- gaud
- gewgaw
- geegaw
- gimcrack
- kickshaw
- knickknack
- nicknack
- novelty
- ornamental
- trinket
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
shelves cluttered with tchotchkes from a lifetime of vacations
Recent Examples on the Web The kids weren’t wrestling for a Nescafe globe coffee mug but for another promotional tchotchke: a matching Chiquita banana bowl and spoon. John Kelly, Washington Post, 22 Aug. 2022 Which is a shame because aside from being a tchotchke-hoarder, my mom also loves to bake, and any great baker needs a set of high-quality, actually functional measuring spoons. Bon Appétit, 22 Apr. 2022 Amazon is still not great at physical stores: Amazon will close more than 50 of its retail shops, including its bookstores and tchotchke outposts called Amazon 4-Star. New York Times, 3 Mar. 2022 Every stick of furniture, piece of art, light fixture and side table tchotchke is included. Howard Walker, Robb Report, 16 Nov. 2021 Using my iPhone to control my Roku has been a pleasure, and my little ergonomically slippery external remote control now sits comfortably on my coffee table, a tchotchke next to my Scrabble-tile coasters and my roommate’s potted succulent. Joe Reid, Vulture, 19 Aug. 2021 Decades of high school lit seminars, let alone the gradual opening of the playgoing class’s eyes to the world’s inequities and terrors, have transformed it from an enigmatic museum piece into an existential tchotchke. New York Times, 7 May 2021 Which is a shame because aside from being a tchotchke-hoarder, my mom also loves to bake, and any great baker needs a set of functional measuring spoons. Mackenzie Chung Fegan, Bon Appétit, 3 May 2021 For the Confederate Battle Flag — a symbol of Southern sedition in the Civil War, and an emblem of bondage — its second act as gift-shop tchotchke represents willful ignorance at best. BostonGlobe.com, 21 Apr. 2021 See More
John Kelly, Washington Post, 22 Aug. 2022 Which is a shame because aside from being a tchotchke-hoarder, my mom also loves to bake, and any great baker needs a set of high-quality, actually functional measuring spoons. Bon Appétit, 22 Apr. 2022 Amazon is still not great at physical stores: Amazon will close more than 50 of its retail shops, including its bookstores and tchotchke outposts called Amazon 4-Star. New York Times, 3 Mar. 2022 Every stick of furniture, piece of art, light fixture and side table tchotchke is included. Howard Walker, Robb Report, 16 Nov. 2021 Using my iPhone to control my Roku has been a pleasure, and my little ergonomically slippery external remote control now sits comfortably on my coffee table, a tchotchke next to my Scrabble-tile coasters and my roommate’s potted succulent. Joe Reid, Vulture, 19 Aug. 2021 Decades of high school lit seminars, let alone the gradual opening of the playgoing class’s eyes to the world’s inequities and terrors, have transformed it from an enigmatic museum piece into an existential tchotchke. New York Times, 7 May 2021 Which is a shame because aside from being a tchotchke-hoarder, my mom also loves to bake, and any great baker needs a set of functional measuring spoons. Mackenzie Chung Fegan, Bon Appétit, 3 May 2021 For the Confederate Battle Flag — a symbol of Southern sedition in the Civil War, and an emblem of bondage — its second act as gift-shop tchotchke represents willful ignorance at best. BostonGlobe.com, 21 Apr. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
Yiddish tshatshke trinket, from obsolete Polish czaczko
First Known Use
1971, in the meaning defined above
tchotchkes
noun
as in ornamentals
a small object displayed for its attractiveness or interest shelves cluttered with tchotchkes from a lifetime of vacations Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- ornamentals
- knickknacks
- novelties
- ornaments
- souvenirs
- trinkets
- gewgaws
- baubles
- gimcracks
- collectibles
- bibelots
- nicknacks
- geegaws
- gauds
- curios
- doodads
- collectables
- curiosities
- kickshaws
- figurines
- mementos
- trumperies
- keepsakes
- trifles
- bric-a-brac
- bagatelles
- virtus
- mementoes
- objets
- gimcrackeries
- bijouteries
- vertus
- conversation pieces
- trinketries
- objets d'art
- collector's items
- astronauts
- astronavigation
- astronavigations
- astronavigators
- astronia
- astroniums
- astronomer
- Astronomer Royal
- astronomer's staff
- astronomers
- astronomers royal
- astronomic
- astronomical
- astronomical clock
- astronomical coordinate
- astronomical geography
- astronomical latitude
- astronomical telescope
- astronomical time
- astronomical triangle
- astronomical twilight
- astronomical unit
- astronomically
- astronomies
- astronomise