kitsch

See also: Kitsch

English

WOTD – 19 September 2008

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪtʃ
• Homophone: Kizh

Noun

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.
   • 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.

Synonyms

• camp

Derived terms

• kitschify
• kitschy
• Holo-kitsch

Translations

art of questionable artistic value

• Azerbaijani: kitç
• Bulgarian: кич m (kič)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 媚俗 (zh) (mèisú), 刻奇 (kèqí), 畸趣 (jīqù)

• Czech: kýč (cs) m
• Dutch: kitsch (nl)
• Esperanto: kiĉo
• Finnish: rihkama (fi), kitsi (fi), kitsch (fi), krääsä (fi)
• French: kitsch (fr) m, kitch (fr) m
• German: Kitsch (de) m
• Greek: κιτς (el) (kits)
• Hebrew: קיטש (he)
• Hungarian: giccs (hu)
• Italian: kitsch (it) m
• Japanese: キッチュ (kitchu)
• Korean: 키치 (kichi)
• Kyrgyz: кич (kic), китч (kitc)
• Macedonian: кич m (kič)
• Persian: کیچ (fa)
• Polish: kicz (pl) m
• Portuguese: kitsch (pt)
• Russian: китч (ru) m (kitč)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кич m

  Roman: kič m

• Slovak: gýč m
• Spanish: kitsch (es) m, cursilería f
• Swedish: kitsch (sv)
• Ukrainian: кіч m (kič), кітч (uk) m (kitč)

Adjective

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.

Usage notes

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

Synonyms

• corny

Translations

of questionable aesthetic value

• Bulgarian: кичозен (kičozen)
• Czech: kýčovitý m
• Esperanto: kiĉa
• Finnish: kitsahtava, kruusattu
• French: kitsch (fr), quétaine (fr) (Quebec)
• German: kitschig (de)
• Hungarian: giccses (hu)
• Macedonian: кичест m (kičest)
• Polish: kiczowaty (pl) m
• Portuguese: kitsch (pt)
• Slovak: gýčovitý
• Spanish: kitsch (es)
• Swedish: kitschig (sv)

Anagrams

• schtik, shtick, skitch, thicks

French

Alternative forms

• kitch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kitʃ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

kitsch m (uncountable)

1. kitsch

Adjective

kitsch (invariable)

1. kitsch

Further reading

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

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkit͡ʃ/
• Rhymes: -itʃ

Adjective

kitsch (invariable)

1. kitsch

   Synonym: pacchiano

Noun

kitsch m (uncountable)

1. kitsch

Further reading

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

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

Adjective

kitsch (invariable)

1. kitsch; kitschy (of questionable aesthetic value)

Noun

kitsch m (uncountable)

1. kitsch (art of questionable aesthetic value)

Further reading

• “kitsch”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

Noun

kitsch n (plural kitschuri)

1. kitsch

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	kitsch	kitschul		kitschuri	kitschurile
genitive-dative	kitsch	kitschului		kitschuri	kitschurilor
vocative	kitschule			kitschurilor

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from German Kitsch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkit͡ʃ/ [ˈkit͡ʃ]

Noun

kitsch m (uncountable)

1. kitsch

Adjective

kitsch (invariable)

1. kitschy

   Synonyms: cursi, hortera

Usage notes

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.

Further reading

• “kitsch”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

Pronunciation

• (Sweden) IPA^(key): /kɪtɧ/

Noun

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.

Declension

Declension of kitsch

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	kitsch	kitschs
	definite	kitschen	kitschens
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Derived terms

• kitschig

References

• kitsch in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• kitsch in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)