gimmick

English

Etymology

Unknown. Possibly a rough anagram of magic or from gimme.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɪm.ɪk/
Audio (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -ɪmɪk

Noun

gimmick (plural gimmicks)

A trick or device used to attain some end.
The box had a gimmick to make the coin appear to vanish.
- April 19 2012, Scott Tobias, “Fightville”, in AV Club‎:
  Epperlein and Tucker focus on two featherweight hopefuls: Dustin Poirier, a formidable contender who’s looking to parlay a history of schoolyard violence and street-fighting into a potential career, and
- 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, OCLC 246633669, PC, scene: Citadel:
  Rear Admiral Mikhailovich: I don't begrudge the politicians' decision to throw you to the Council. It's an... opportunity. I do begrudge this overdesigned piece of tin, though.
  Shepard: The Normandy is a fine ship, sir. She's served us well so far.
  Rear Admiral Mikhailovich: It's a gimmick, Commander. Useless in a stand-up fight.
  Rear Admiral Mikhailovich: This experiment diverted billions from our apportions bills. For the same price, we could've had a heavy cruiser.
  Rear Admiral Mikhailovich: But no, we had to make nice to the turians. Throw money at a co-developed boondoggle.
A clever ploy or strategy.
The contest was a gimmick to get people to sign up for their mailing list.
(electronics) A gimmick capacitor.
(Philippines) A night out with one's friends.

Derived terms

gimmicky
gimmickry

Translations

trick or a device

Bulgarian: трик (bg) m (trik)
Danish: gimmick c, kneb n
Finnish: temppu (fi), konsti (fi), kikka (fi) (trick); viritys (fi) (device)
French: truc (fr) m, gadget (fr) m, artifice (fr) m, mécanisme (fr) m
Galician: truco m
Georgian: ხრიკი (xriḳi), ტრიუკი (ṭriuḳi), ფანდი (pandi)
German: Kniff (de) m, Kunstgriff (de) m, Trick (de) m
Hungarian: trükk (hu)
Italian: trucco (it) m
Japanese: 仕掛け (ja) (しかけ, shikake), 絡繰り (ja) (からくり, karakuri), ギミック (gimikku)
Polish: trik (pl), gadżet (pl) m, bajer (pl) m, wihajster (pl) m
Portuguese: artimanha (pt) f
Russian: трюк (ru) m (trjuk)
Serbo-Croatian: trik (sh), štos (sh)
Spanish: truco (es)
Turkish: marifet (tr), numara (tr), hile (tr)

clever ploy or strategy

Danish: gimmick c
Finnish: temppu (fi), konsti (fi), kikka (fi)
French: subterfuge (fr) m, artifice (fr) m, ficelle (fr) f, stratagème (fr) m, astuce (fr) f
Georgian: ხერხი (xerxi), ფანდი (pandi), ხრიკი (xriḳi), ეშმაკობა (ešmaḳoba)
German: Aufhänger m (advertising), Gag (de) m (colloquial)
Hebrew: גימיק‎ (he) m
Italian: stratagemma (it) m
Portuguese: estratagema (pt) m
Russian: уло́вка (ru) f (ulóvka), трюк (ru) m (trjuk), ухищре́ние (ru) n (uxiščrénije)
Spanish: estratagema (es)
Swedish: gimmick (sv) c

gimmick capacitor — see gimmick capacitor

Verb

gimmick (third-person singular simple present gimmicks, present participle gimmicking, simple past and past participle gimmicked)

To rig or set up with a trick or device.
The magician's box was gimmicked with a wire that made it appear to open on its own.

Translations

to rig or set up with a trick or device

Finnish: virittää (fi), viritellä (fi)
Italian: truccare (it)
Swedish: preparera (sv)

Chinese

Etymology

From English gimmick.

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): gim¹ mik⁴

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: gim¹ mik⁴
  - Yale: gīm mìhk
  - Cantonese Pinyin: gim¹ mik⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: gim¹ mig⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kiːm⁵⁵ mɪk̚²¹/

Noun

gimmick

(Hong Kong Cantonese) gimmick

Adjective

gimmick

(Hong Kong Cantonese) gimmicky
gimmick嘢 [Cantonese] ― gim¹ mik⁴ je⁵ [Jyutping] ― things with gimmicks

References

English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese

French

Etymology

From English gimmick.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɡi.mik/
- Canada (Québec, Mauricie, Shawinigan)(As used in vernacular French) (file)

Noun

gimmick m (plural gimmicks)

gimmick