Standard Lemma guide

bric-a-brac

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈbɹɪkəbɹæk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈbɹɪkəˌbɹæk/

1

noun

Meaning 1

Small ornaments and other miscellaneous display items of little value.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: also, attributive, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: brickety-brack, knick-knacks, novelty item, bauble, novelty, bric-a-brac, fandangle, fangle, fizgig, folderol, gewgaw, kickshaw, knick-knack, mathom, tat, tchotchke, trangam, trinket, whim-wham

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any collection containing a variety of miscellaneous items; a hodgepodge, an olio.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: also, attributive, broadly, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mishmash, oddments, curios, ornaments, baubles, bouillabaisse, bric-a-brac, catch-all, clamjamfrey, cocktail, rummage, salad, anthology, gallery, congeries, crazyquilt, disjecta membra, farrago, galimatias, gallimaufry, grab bag, hodgepodge, horse and rabbit stew, hotchpotch, hotchpot, job lot, jumble, macedoine, medley, melange, mingle-mangle, miscellanea, miscellany, mixed bag, mixture, motley, odds and ends, olio, olla podrida, omnium-gatherum, pastiche, patchwork quilt, potpourri, ragbag, salmagundi, slurry, smorgasbord, welter, Whitman's sampler

Antonyms: valuables, treasures

3

noun

Meaning 3

miscellaneous curios

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: knickknack, nicknack, knickknackery, whatnot

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: curio, curiosity, oddity, oddment, peculiarity, rarity

History

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.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Esperanto: aĵetoj — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Finnish: krääsä — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Finnish: rihkama — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • French: bric-à-brac — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • German: Schnickschnack — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • German: Krimskrams — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Greek: μπιχλιμπίδι (bichlimpídi) — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Hungarian: csecsebecse — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Italian: bric-a-brac — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Italian: cianfrusaglie — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Italian: ciarpame — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Italian: paccottaglia — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Japanese: 瓦落多 — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Japanese: 我楽多 — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Japanese: 瓦落苦多 — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Japanese: がらくた — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Japanese: ガラクタ (garakuta) — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Polish: bambetle — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Polish: bibeloty — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Portuguese: bricabraque — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Portuguese: porcariada — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Portuguese: quinquilharia — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Russian: брѝк-а-бра́к (brìk-a-brák) — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value
  • Swedish: tingeltangel — small ornaments and other miscellaneous items of little value