kitsch

kitsch
 
noun | KITCH
 
What It Means
 
Kitsch refers to something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often cheap or tacky. Kitsch also refers to a tacky or lowbrow quality or condition.
 
// The restaurant is decorated with 1950s furniture and kitsch from old TV shows.
 
// The critic opined that the movie, despite its lofty ambitions, at times descended into kitsch.



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kitsch
noun
;kich
Synonyms of kitsch
1
: something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality
2
: a tacky or lowbrow quality or condition
teetering on the brink of kitsch
—Ron Miller
kitschy
;ki-ch;
 adjective


Did you know?
Have you ever browsed through a flea market or thrift shop? If so, chances are you’re well-acquainted with kitsch, the various bits and bobs of popular culture—fuzzy dice, plastic flamingos, cartoon-themed plastic lunchboxes, etc.—that enjoy widespread popularity but don’t hold much cultural esteem. Or maybe you’re a fan of (what some might call) cheesy movies—action movies and rom-coms that score big at the box office but are panned by critics—kitsch often applies to them, too, as well as to “lowbrow” art of all kinds. English users borrowed kitsch in the early 20th century from German; according to scholars the word was popularized by Munich painters and art dealers in the 1860s and 1870s who used it to refer to popular and cheap artwork. The word’s earlier origins are found in the German verb kitschen, meaning “to slap something (such as a work of art) together” as well as “to scrape up mud from the street.” Despite these muddy origins and the disapproving tone with which kitsch is often deployed, kitsch is not quite the “dirty” word it once was—kitsch today is as likely to be celebrated as it is to be derided.

Examples of kitsch in a Sentence
The restaurant is decorated with 1950s furniture and kitsch from old TV shows.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Martell adds that the popularity of these designs might simply be an algorithmic side effect of engaging with mid-century kitsch content on your social media.
—Marie Lodi, Allure, 29 Mar. 2025
The results were extremely kitsch and colorful renderings of ancient palaces.
—Eric Wilson, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025
The structure was drafted by a stage designer before being realized by an architect, a choice that’s reflected in some of its fanciful elements (some of which contemporary architects dismissed as kitsch) like frescoes, Romanesque arches, Gothic delicacy and whiffs of Art Nouveau foreshadowing.
—Ann Abel, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
The ride, which takes young kids and their parents on a short journey through a storybook land and a glowing, fluorescent tunnel, has long been a fun exercise in kitsch (and a welcome respite for parents and grandparents chasing kids around).
—Sal Pizarro, The Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2025