tchotchke

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 16, 2024 is: tchotchke \CHAHCH-kuh\ noun Tchotchke refers to a small object used for decoration. It's a synonym of [knickknack](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knickknack) and [trinket](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trinket). // Their shelves were cluttered with tchotchkes from a lifetime of vacations. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tchotchke) Examples: "Dozens of vendors hawking art, food and tourist tchotchkes crowded the bridge’s Manhattan approaches ..." — Evan Simko-Bednarski, The New York Daily News, 3 Jan. 2024 Did you know? Just as trinkets can dress up your shelves or coffee table, many words for "miscellaneous objects" or "nondescript junk" decorate our language. Knickknack, [doodad](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doodad), [gewgaw](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gewgaw), and [whatnot](https://bit.ly/3Y9Eldj) are some of the more common ones. We also have [gimcrack](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gimcrack), [bauble](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bauble), and [bibelot](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bibelot). While many such words are of unknown origin, we know that tchotchke comes from the Yiddish word tshatshke of the same meaning, and ultimately from a now-obsolete Polish word, czaczko. Tchotchke is a pretty popular word these days, but it wasn't commonly used in English until the 1970s.