kitsch

From German Kitsch, from dialectal kitschen (“to coat, to smear”); the word and concept were popularized in the 1930s by several critics who contrasted it with avant-garde art.

• (UK, US) enPR: kĭch, IPA^(key): /kɪt͡ʃ/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɪtʃ
• Homophone: Kizh

kitsch (usually uncountable, plural kitsches)

1. Art, decorative objects, and other forms of representation of questionable artistic or aesthetic value; a representation that is excessively sentimental, overdone, or vulgar.

   Synonyms: camp, campy, kitschy, schmaltzy; see also Thesaurus:mawkish

   • 1939, Clement Greenberg, “Avant Garde and Kitsch”, in The Partisan Review‎^[1], archived from the original on 13 October 2007:

     Because it can be turned out mechanically, kitsch has become an integral part of our productive system in a way in which true culture could never be, except accidentally.

• → Korean: 키치 (kichi)

kitsch (comparative kitscher or more kitsch, superlative kitschest or most kitsch)

1. Of art and decor: of questionable aesthetic value; excessively sentimental, overdone or vulgar.
   • 1989, Graham Greene, Yours etc: Letters to the Press 1945-1989, →ISBN, page 243:

     […] a picture of lemur-eyed children of the sort one sees in the kitscher sort of Italian restaurant […]

   • June/July 1996, Robert Silberman, “The stuff of art: Judy Onofrio”, in American Craft, pages 40–45:

     Abe Lincoln, Paul Bunyan and kitsch souvenir coconut heads come across as icons of masculinity.

   • spring 2005, Ronald Frame, “Critical Paranoia”, in Michigan Quarterly Review, page 285:

     I recognized her at once even though she wasn't wearing the tweed hunting outfit and the kitsch headwear.

• Although the forms kitscher and kitschest are attested, those formed on kitschy are more common, particularly for the comparative.

• corny

• schtik, shtick, skitch, thicks

• kitch

• IPA^(key): /kitʃ/

• Audio:

  (file)

kitsch m (uncountable)

1. kitsch

kitsch (invariable)

1. kitsch

• “kitsch”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkit͡ʃ/^[1]
• Rhymes: -itʃ

kitsch (invariable)

1. kitsch

   Synonym: pacchiano

kitsch m (uncountable)

1. kitsch

• kitsch in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

• Rhymes: -it͡ʃ, (Brazil) -it͡ʃi
• Hyphenation: kitsch

kitsch (invariable)

1. kitsch; kitschy (of questionable aesthetic value)

kitsch m (uncountable)

1. kitsch (art of questionable aesthetic value)

• “kitsch”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “kitsch”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “kitsch”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “kitsch”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

kitsch n (plural kitschuri)

1. kitsch

Unadapted borrowing from German Kitsch.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkit͡ʃ/ [ˈkit͡ʃ]

kitsch m (uncountable)

1. kitsch

kitsch (invariable)

1. kitschy

   Synonyms: cursi, hortera

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

• “kitsch”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

• (Sweden) IPA^(key): /kɪtɧ/

kitsch c (uncountable)

1. kitsch

   Min mosters handmålade madonnastaty i elfenben är ren kitsch.

   My aunt's hand-painted ivory Madonna statue is pure kitsch.

• kitschig

• “kitsch”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “kitsch”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)