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gewgaw

[ gyoo-gaw, goo- ]

/ ˈgyu gɔ, ˈgu- /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR gewgaw ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

something gaudy and useless; trinket; bauble.

Also geegaw.

Origin of gewgaw

1175–1225; Middle English giuegaue; gradational compound of uncertain origin; perhaps akin to Middle French, French gogo (see À gogo)

OTHER WORDS FROM gewgaw

gew·gawed, adjective

Words nearby gewgaw

getup, getz, geulincx, geum, gev, gewgaw, gewürztraminer, gey, geyser, geyser basin, geyserite

Example sentences from the Web for gewgaw

Some of them have been won by a mess of pottage, a mere bauble or a gewgaw.

Prisons and Prayer: Or a Labor of Love |Elizabeth Ryder Wheaton
Here again the gewgaw of royal parade was intended to entrap the admiration of the ignorant.

Secret History of the Court of England, from the Accession of George the Third to the Death of George the Fourth, Volume I (of 2) |Lady Anne Hamilton
The crown of my fathers has shrunk into a gewgaw and a toy,—their ambition and their spirit are undecayed!

Zanoni |Edward Bulwer Lytton
And all of them with some gewgaw to be blessed in the Virgin's bowl.

A Little Pilgrimage in Italy |Olave M. (Olave Muriel) Potter

At her disposal was wealth without stint, every luxury the soft could desire, every gewgaw the vain could covet.

What Will He Do With It, Complete |Edward Bulwer-Lytton

British Dictionary definitions for gewgaw

gewgaw

/ (ˈɡjuːɡɔː, ˈɡuː-) /

noun

a showy but valueless trinket

adjective

showy and valueless; gaudy

Word Origin for gewgaw

C15: of unknown origin