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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A dramatic, literary, or musical piece openly imitating the previous works of other artists, often with satirical intent.
  2. n. A pasticcio of incongruous parts; a hodgepodge: "In . . . a city of splendid Victorian architecture . . . there is a rather pointless pastiche of Dickensian London down on the waterfront” ( Economist).

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Same as pasticcio.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist.
  2. n. A musical medley, typically quoting other works.
  3. n. An incongruous mixture; a hodgepodge.
  4. n. uncountable A postmodern playwriting technique that fuses a variety of styles, genres, and story lines to create a new form.
  5. v. To create or compose in a mixture of styles.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a work of art that imitates the style of some previous work
  2. n. a musical composition consisting of a series of songs or other musical pieces from various sources

Etymologies

  1. Via French pastiche, from Italian pasticcio ("pie, something blended"), from Vulgar Latin *pasticium, from Latin pasta ("dough, pastry cake, paste"), from Ancient Greek παστά (pasta, "barley porridge"), from παστός (pastos, "sprinkled with salt"). (Wiktionary)
  2. French, from Italian pasticcio; see pasticcio. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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Lists

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Comments

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  • sionnach Personally, I agree with she/her on this one; pastiche has too many inescapable pejorative connotations for me ever to consider it a positive designation. Instead of hodge-podge, how about salmagundi? Or the ever-pleasing gallimaufry? Jun 3, 2011

  • Nathon Hay Growing up, my mother called a dinner of leftovers "hodge podge". I hate the sound of that. Hodge podge does not sound tasty. It sounds gross. My wife discovered pastiche, so when we have a dinner of miscellaneous leftovers, we have "pastiche". Mmmmm. Delish. Jun 2, 2011

  • nahiku888 only heard this word in reference to films --- by a so called expert ( He was a prof at USC film school ) ...and when no one in the audience quite got the definition correct, he made a couple sarcastic remarks - needless to say THIS did not endear him to our small community which is faaarrrr from Hollywood. Jun 21, 2009

  • she It's strange seeing this word celebrated — unlike pasticcio, I've never seen pastiche as a happy synonym for parody, pasquinade, motley, medley, potpourri, etc., and WeirdNet's last definition is just dead wrong — pastiche as an adjective implies, to me, the highly derogatory "insipid, derivative, counterfeit.." — Pasticheur is a snooty term for a derivative artist or writer (The word screams "inferiority!"); it's a nasty accusation, not an innocuous appellation. Like the creative equivalent of calling someone a slut.

    Of course, this is only my impression, and you'll use the word however you damn well please, but I hope this serves as at least a marginally useful description of what kind of picture the word may paint? Aug 12, 2008

  • misterpolly Its Italian equivalent "pasticcio" is also a great sounder. It can be a mess/trouble, the musical composition and a dish made up of whatever is available (left-overs)
    Dec 10, 2007

  • tankexmortis Not just a great-sounding word, I love the genre too. Jan 17, 2007

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‘pastiche’ has been looked up 5384 times, loved by 16 people, added to 177 lists, commented on 6 times, and has a Scrabble score of 15.