Standard Lemma guide

kitschy

adj · 2 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.

  • /ˈkɪt͡ʃi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪtʃi

1

adj

Meaning 1

Having the nature of kitsch: excessively sentimental, overdone or vulgar.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: corny, kitsch, schmaltzy, bathetic, cheesy, squishy, drippy, gooey, hokey, icky, kitschy, maudlin, mawkish, mushy, overemotional, oversentimental, overwrought, sappy, sickly sweet, slushy, soppy, soupy, syrupy, treacly

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

effusively or insincerely emotional

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a bathetic novel
  • maudlin expressions of sympathy
  • mushy effusiveness
  • a schmaltzy song
  • sentimental soap operas
  • slushy poetry

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bathetic, drippy, hokey, maudlin, mawkish, mushy, schmaltzy, schmalzy, sentimental, soppy, soupy, slushy

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From kitsch + -y. Compare German kitschig (“kitschy”).

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: кичозен (kičozen) — having the nature of kitsch
  • Catalan: cursi — having the nature of kitsch
  • Chinese Mandarin: 花裡胡哨 /花里胡哨 (huālihúshào) — having the nature of kitsch
  • Czech: kýčovitý — having the nature of kitsch
  • Esperanto: kiĉa — having the nature of kitsch
  • Estonian: kitšilik — having the nature of kitsch
  • Finnish: kitsahtava — having the nature of kitsch
  • French: kitsch — having the nature of kitsch
  • German: kitschig — having the nature of kitsch
  • Greek: κιτς (kits) — having the nature of kitsch
  • Hebrew: קיטשי (kítchi) — having the nature of kitsch
  • Hungarian: giccses — having the nature of kitsch
  • Italian: kitsch — having the nature of kitsch
  • Italian: tamarro — having the nature of kitsch
  • Japanese: キッチュな — having the nature of kitsch
  • Japanese: 低俗な (teizoku na) — having the nature of kitsch
  • Korean: 키치하다 (kichihada) — having the nature of kitsch
  • Polish: kiczowaty — having the nature of kitsch
  • Portuguese: kitsch — having the nature of kitsch
  • Portuguese: brega — having the nature of kitsch
  • Russian: ки́тчевый (kítčevyj) — having the nature of kitsch
  • Slovak: gýčový — having the nature of kitsch
  • Slovak: gýčovitý — having the nature of kitsch
  • Spanish: kitsch — having the nature of kitsch
  • Spanish: cursi — having the nature of kitsch
  • Swedish: kitschig — having the nature of kitsch
  • Ukrainian: кітчевий (kitčevyj) — having the nature of kitsch