noun
- a showy, useless trifle; gewgaw.
adjective
- showy but useless.
adjective
- cheap; shoddy
noun
- a cheap showy trifle or gadget
1610s, “showy person;” sense of “trifle” first recorded 1839; of uncertain origin, perhaps alteration of gibecrake, a kind of ornament on wooden furniture (mid-14c.), perhaps from Old French giber “to rattle, shake” + Middle English crak “sharp noise, crack.” In 18c.-19c. it also meant “a person who has a turn for mechanical contrivances.”