bric-a-brac
/ˈbɹɪkəbɹæk/
"bric-a-brac" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bric-a-brac” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Small ornaments and other miscellaneous display items of little value.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bric-a-brac · bric-a-brac · English
bric-a-brac · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bric-a-brac |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɹɪkəbɹæk/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “bric-a-brac” in English
Rare enough to double-check
bric-a-brac is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbɹɪkəbɹæk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for bric-a-brac in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French bric-à-brac (“miscellaneous items of little value”), apparently from à bricq et à bracq (“at random; haphazardly”); bricq and bracq are expressive onomatopoeias of obscure origin. The correct English form is bric-a-brac, spelled B-R-I-C---A---B-R-A-C.
Definition
- 1Small ornaments and other miscellaneous display items of little value.
- 2Any collection containing a variety of miscellaneous items; a hodgepodge, an olio.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bric-a-brac appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The palace of Versailles has been turned into a bricabrac shop, of late years; and its time-honoured walls have been covered with many thousand yards of the worst pictures that eye ever looked on.
No doubt her pleasure would have been at that moment to give him not only that gold which she had been saving up against rent-day, but the spoons, the furniture, and all the valuables of the house, including, perhaps, J. J.'s bricabrac, cabinets, china, and so forth.
Etymology
Borrowed from French bric-à-brac (“miscellaneous items of little value”), apparently from à bricq et à bracq (“at random; haphazardly”); bricq and bracq are expressive onomatopoeias of obscure origin.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.