Meaning & use
bric-a-brac
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Meanings
noununcountable
Small decorative objects of little value, such as figurines and souvenirs, kept on shelves or sold in secondhand shops.
Grammar: Uncountable and singular: the bric-a-brac was dusty. You cannot say a bric-a-brac or two bric-a-bracs.
Patterns
- a shelf full of bric-a-brac
- collect bric-a-brac
Her mantelpiece was crowded with bric-a-brac from seaside holidays.
We found a stall selling old plates, postcards and other bric-a-brac.
The attic was full of bric-a-brac that nobody had the heart to throw away.
noununcountablefigurative
A miscellaneous collection of minor or unimportant things.
Grammar: Used figuratively for scattered trivia: the bric-a-brac of daily life.
Patterns
- the bric-a-brac of something
The essay was weighed down with bric-a-brac and lost its main point.
His memory held a bric-a-brac of half-forgotten facts.
The report included the usual bric-a-brac of footnotes and appendices.
Common combinations
- shelf of bric-a-brac
- A shelf of bric-a-brac ran along the whole kitchen wall.
- antique bric-a-brac
- The flea market sells antique bric-a-brac at modest prices.
- dusty bric-a-brac
- Dusty bric-a-brac covered every table in the hallway.
- bric-a-brac stall
- We bought a small bell at a bric-a-brac stall.
- collect bric-a-brac
- She loves to collect bric-a-brac from travels.
Synonyms and how they differ
- knickknacks
- Knickknacks are small ornaments too, but the word is plural and slightly more playful than bric-a-brac.
- trinkets
- Trinkets suggests little pieces of cheap jewelry or souvenirs, whereas bric-a-brac covers any small decorative object.
- curios
- Curios are things prized for being unusual or rare, so they imply more interest than bric-a-brac.
- ornaments
- Ornaments can be valuable and carefully chosen, while bric-a-brac suggests a jumble of cheap items.
Commonly confused: bric-a-brac or heirloom?
bric-a-brac vs heirloom
An heirloom is a valuable object handed down in a family, while bric-a-brac is made up of small things that are worth little.
Practice
Her shelf was crowded with ___ she had collected on holiday.
Choose one answer.
Bric-a-brac is uncountable, so it takes no article and no plural. The other options treat it as countable.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bric-a-brac”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.