gimcrack
/ˈd͡ʒɪmkɹæk/
"gimcrack" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gimcrack” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Showy but of poor quality; worthless.
Corpus desk
Index EN-gimcrack · gimcrack · English
gimcrack · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "G" 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 | gimcrack |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈd͡ʒɪmkɹæk/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “gimcrack” in English
Rare enough to double-check
gimcrack is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈd͡ʒɪmkɹæk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Showy but of poor quality; worthless.".
gimcrack doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Unknown. The correct English form is gimcrack, spelled G-I-M-C-R-A-C-K.
Definition
- 1Showy but of poor quality; worthless.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how gimcrack appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
For years past this branch of art-manufacture had been entrusted to those whose taste, if it may be called taste at all, can be no more referred to correct principles of design than the gimcrack decorations of a wedding-cake could be tested by any standard of sculpturesque beauty.
It was cocking her up with gimcrack notions about ladies till she'd be ashamed to look at her own hands after she had done a day's work with them.
Etymology
Unknown.
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.