Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Pieces of art or other objects that appeal to popular or uncultivated taste, as in being garish or overly sentimental.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Art, decorative objects and other forms of representation of questionable artistic or aesthetic value; a representation that is excessively sentimental, overdone, or vulgar.
  • adjective Said especially of art and decor that is considered of questionable aesthetic value; excessively sentimental, overdone or vulgar.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun excessively garish or sentimental art; usually considered in bad taste

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[German Kitsch (originally used of kitschy painting ), perhaps from kitschen, to sweep or rake up street mud, or from German dialectal kitschen, to sell off cheaply.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From German Kitsch, from dialectal kitschen ("to coat, to smear"), the word and concept were popularized in the 1930's by several critics who opposed it to avant garde art.

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