tchotchke
UK /ˈt͡ʃɒt͡ʃkə/ · US /ˈt͡ʃɑt͡ʃkə/ noun
Forms tchotchkes chachka chatchka chatchke chotchke tsatske tshatshke tsotchke
- noun A small ornament of minor value; a knick-knack, a trinket.
- noun (figurative, dated, chiefly in Jewish contexts) An attractive girl or woman.
Synonyms
bauble novelty bric-a-brac fandangle fangle fizgig folderol gewgaw kickshaw knick-knack mathom tat trangam trinket whim-wham bimbo angel babe beauty belle chachka tsatske tshatshke tchotchkeleh
Etymology
Borrowed from Yiddish טשאַטשקע (tshatshke, “ornament; trinket; toy; (figurative) attractive girl or woman”), from a Slavic language and probably ultimately imitative of a baby’s utterances.
* Polish cacko (“toy; knick-knack, trinket; pretty thing”), from caca (“nice thing”), and czaczko (“(obsolete) toy; trinket; pretty thing”)
* Russian ца́цка (cácka, “(informal) knick-knack, trinket; (dated) toy”), from ца́ца (cáca, “toy; trinket; well-behaved child; nice person; conceited person”)
* Ukrainian ца́цка (cácka, “(dated) toy; ornament, trinket; conceited person; well-dressed person”), from ца́ца (cáca, “toy; well-behaved child; conceited person; attractive woman”)
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “tchotchke”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details