Definitions of Kitsch (kch)

Freedictionary.com

n.

1. Sentimentality or vulgar, often pretentious bad taste, especially in the arts: "When money tries to buy beauty it tends to purchase a kind of courteous kitsch" (William H. Gass).

2. An example or examples of kitsch.

adj.
Of, being, or characterized by kitsch: "The kitsch kitchen ... has aqua-and-white gingham curtains and rubber duck-yellow walls painted in a fried-egg motif" (Suzanne Cassidy).

Cambridge Dictionary

n.

art, decorative objects or design considered by many people to be ugly, without style, or false but enjoyed by other people, often because they are funny

His home's full of 1950's kitsch.

Merriam-Webster

adj.

1: something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality

2: a tacky or lowbrow quality or condition <teetering on the brink of kitsch — Ron Miller>

Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms

rubbishy or tasteless pseudo‐art of any kind. It is most easily recognizable in the products of the souvenir trade, especially those attempting to capitalize on ‘high’ art (Mona Lisa ashtrays, busts of Beethoven, etc.) or on religion (flesh‐coloured Christs that glow in the dark); and is found in many forms of popular entertainment—the films of Cecil B. De Mille, much ‘Easy Listening’ music. It is harder to identify in written works, but the sentimental doggerel found in greetings cards is one obvious example, while the trashier end of the science‐fiction and sword‐and‐sorcery fiction markets provide many more pretentious cases.

Oxford Dictionary of Modern Design

Seen to imply characteristics that indicate sentimentality, vulgarity, or even pretentiousness, the meanings of ‘kitsch’ were intelligently explored in an essay of 1939 by the American critic Clement Greenberg entitled ‘Kitsch and Avant-Garde’. However, although the word may be found in a number of contexts in the earlier part of the 20th century, its conscious adoption in opposition to the tenets of Modernism and ‘Good Design’ may be found in a number of Postmodern designs and the activities of design groups such as Archizoom, Studio Alchimia, and Memphis. Important in this respect were the writings of the Italian historian, theorist, and critic Gillo Dorfles, particularly his 1969 collection of edited essays entitled Kitsch the World of Bad Taste, which explored many aspects of the iconography of popular culture.

Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: Fine Arts

 

Works of art and other objects (such as furniture) that are meant to look costly but actually are in poor taste.

Kitsch in literature and music is associated with sentimentalism as well as bad taste.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture & Construction:

Art or architecture that is sentimental or banal in tone; considered to have little or no aesthetic value.


McGraw-Hill Slang Dictionary:

n.

any form of entertainment—movies, books, plays—with enormous popular appeal.  This kitsch sells like mad in the big city.

Allee Willis Definition of Kitsch