What does bricabrac mean?
Bricabrac refers to small decorative objects — figurines, souvenirs, ornaments, and curiosities — that are collected or displayed for their charm rather than for any significant monetary worth. Borrowed directly from French, where it appears as 'bric-à-brac', the word functions as an uncountable noun in English, so one speaks of 'a shelf of bricabrac' rather than 'two bricabracs'. It is most often used to describe the pleasant clutter of a well-lived-in home, a junk shop, or an antique stall, and it sits comfortably in both British and American English, though it leans slightly toward the informal. Depending on tone, bricabrac can convey affection for eclectic, personal collections or gentle disdain for worthless accumulation. Its closest everyday equivalents include 'knick-knacks', 'trinkets', and 'tchotchkes', making it a useful word whenever the focus falls on charming, low-value clutter.
nounSmall decorative objects and ornaments of little value, displayed or collected for their charm or curiosity rather than their worth; miscellaneous odds and ends of this kind.
- A collection of small ornamental objects of little value, kept or displayed out of charm or curiosity.
- Miscellaneous odds and ends; a jumble of assorted items (a looser, extended use).
"The mantelpiece was crowded with the bricabrac she had gathered on her travels."
"Every surface in her cottage was covered with bricabrac picked up at flea markets over forty years."
"The attic was full of the usual bricabrac: old lampshades, broken picture frames, boxes of tangled wire."
As a mass noun, bricabrac has no plural form; quantity is expressed with phrases like 'pieces of bricabrac' or 'a collection of bricabrac'.
"She packed up all her bricabrac before moving house."
The word is pure French whimsy — 'bric-à-brac' — an imitation of a jumble of clattering sounds, as if you could hear a shelf of clutter tumbling down.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bricabrac
Bricabrac comes straight from the French 'bric-à-brac', a phrase of imitative origin coined in the sixteenth century to evoke the clatter and jumble of miscellaneous objects. The French term was adopted into English in the mid-nineteenth century, retaining its original sense of small, ornamental, and largely valueless items. Because it entered English as a fixed borrowing from French rather than through a productive root, it has few true cognates in English beyond related French loanwords describing similar assortments of goods.
How bricabrac is actually used
Bricabrac is an uncountable (mass) noun with no standard plural form. It carries a mildly informal register and can suggest charming clutter, though it may also imply tasteless or valueless accumulation depending on context.
Easily confused with bricabrac
Knick-knack refers to a single small ornament, while bricabrac denotes such objects collectively as a mass noun.