Dictionary

bric-a-brac en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɹɪkəbɹæk/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈbɹɪkəˌbɹæk/ (General-American)

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.

Meanings

1. (also, attributive, uncountable, usually) Small ornaments and other miscellaneous display items of little value.
   • 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. 1861 January – 1862 August, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “In which Philip Shows His Mettle”, in The Adventures of Philip on His Way through the World; […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1862, →OCLC, page 299:
   • "Well, mi casa su casa," said Corbin as they rounded the final bend. They were standing in a cozy maintenance alcove with a sleeping roll on a memory foam mattress on the floor, a series of labelled duffel bags, a space heater and dehumidifier locked in eternal stalemate, a card table and two chairs, and a wide variety of bric-a-brac. There were safety and information posters on the walls, rips and creases showing that they'd been liberated from their original points of fixture. There were photographs mac-tac'd to conduits and concrete. There was even a sad little pot plant beneath a slowly leaking pipe — pot pot, Udo realized, and she almost smiled. 2023 September 22, HarryBlank, “Off Track”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 25 May 2024:
   • Indeed, who wants the real animal or hunter? What would that do amid astral and bric-a-brac and tapestry, and ladies and gentlemen talking in subdued tones of [Robert] Browning and [Henry Wadsworth] Longfellow and art? 1882–1883, Walt Whitman, “[Collect. Notes Left Over.] Emerson’s Books, (the Shadows of Them).”, in Specimen Days & Collect, Philadelphia, Pa.: Rees Welsh & Co., […], →OCLC, page 320:
   • 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. 1840, M. A. Titmarsh [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “Meditations at Versailles”, in The Paris Sketch Book, volume II, London: John Macrone, […], →OCLC, page 267:
   • Haven't an affair in the world, […] except a quarrel with a bric-à-brac man. 1876, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter LXVII, in Daniel Deronda, volume IV, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book VIII (Fruit and Seed), page 314:
2. (also, attributive, broadly, uncountable, usually) Any collection containing a variety of miscellaneous items; a hodgepodge, an olio.
   • Yes: I think he is a good fellow: rather miscellaneous and bric-à-brac, but likable. 1871–1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XLIII, in Middlemarch […], volume III, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book V, page 13:

Forms

Antonyms

valuables · treasures

Deriveds

bric-a-bracquerie · bric-a-brackery · bric-a-bracker · brickety-brack

Synonyms

kickshaw · folderol · fangle · brickety-brack · smorgasbord · mixture · cocktail · tchotchke · mathom · salmagundi · medley · ragbag · Whitman's sampler · hodgepodge · mishmash · oddments · novelty item · anthology · gallery · horse and rabbit stew · farrago · omnium-gatherum · hotchpotch · ornaments · mingle-mangle · clamjamfrey · potpourri · whim-wham · job lot · mishmash · fandangle · miscellany · bauble · melange · patchwork quilt · olla podrida · pastiche · salad · gatherum · fizgig · rummage · oddments · congeries · bric-a-brac · novelty · trinket · gallimaufry · tat · knick-knack · miscellanea · odds and ends · bouillabaisse · grab bag · welter · hotchpot · olio · mixed bag · bric-a-brac · galimatias · jumble · macedoine · trangam · gewgaw · crazyquilt · catch-all · disjecta membra · slurry · knick-knacks · motley · baubles · curios

Translations (24)

ja がらくた (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · pt quinquilharia (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · it bric-a-brac (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · fr bric-à-brac (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · de Krimskrams (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · sv tingeltangel (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · it cianfrusaglie (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · ja 我楽多 (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · eo aĵetoj (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · ja 瓦落多 (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · el μπιχλιμπίδι (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · pl bibeloty (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · ru брѝк-а-бра́к (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · fi krääsä (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · fi rihkama (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · it ciarpame (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · it paccottaglia (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · hu csecsebecse (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · ja 瓦落苦多 (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · pt porcariada (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · pl bambetle (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · ja ガラクタ (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · pt bricabraque (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value) · de Schnickschnack (small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value)