Gewgaw

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈɡjuːɡɔː/

Origin

From earlier gugaw, gygaw, from Middle English givegove ("gewgaw, trifle"), a reduplication of Middle English give, geove ("gift"), from Old English giefu, geofu, geafu ("gift"), from Proto-Germanic *gebō ("gift"). Compare Icelandic gyligjöf ("showy gifts, gewgaw"). More at give.

Full definition of gewgaw

Noun

1. A showy trifle, a toy; a showy trinket, ornament or decoration. from 15th c.
• DrydenA heavy gewgaw called a crown.
• 1883, Nathaniel_Hawthorne, Doctor Grimshawe's Secret, ch. 15:It was a Saxon ornament. ... Some Puritan, before his departure, may have thought himself doing God service by filching the old golden gewgaw.
• 1951, Isaac Asimov, (1974 publication), part V: “The Merchant Princes”, chapter 11, page 163, ¶¶ 2–4:“I am not of the neighbourhood,” said Mallow, calmly, “but the matter is irrelevant. I have had the honour to send you a little gift yesterday ——” ¶ The tech-man’s nose lifted. “I received it. An interesting gewgaw. I may have use for it on occasion.” ¶ I have other and more interesting gifts. Quite out of the gewgaw stage.”
• 2011, Will Self, "The frowniest spot on Earth", London Review of Books, XXXIII.9:You or I may well view our desire to push buttons and order new electronic gewgaws as the mere reflex spasms of consumerism, but to this dynamic duo the future of the earth depends on our instant gratification more than anything else.

Adjective

1. Showy; unreal; pretentious.
• 1678, John Dryden, , Scene II,The rattle of a globe to play withal,This gewgaw world, and put him cheaply off;
• 1855, Alfred_Tennyson, Maud; A Monodrama, X, stanza 1,Seeing his gewgaw castle shine,New as his title, built last year.

Synonyms

• gewgawish