Bawbles

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Colorful ornaments or small decorative items, typically lightweight and often trinket-like in appearance
2. items that serve as superficial decorations rather than practical tools
3. frivolous objects or accessories used for embellishment or amusement without significant value

Etymology: "Bawbles" is the plural of "bawble," which denotes a showy but cheap trinket. The singular form is the one that carries the history: it was borrowed into English from Old French "baubel," a word meaning a plaything or toy. Its own ancestry is uncertain, and the origin is best treated as unknown rather than traced to a firm source. What is clear is how far the meaning has traveled. In English the word first described a plaything or toy, and over time it narrowed to suggest something glittering and worthless. The idea of gaudy valuelessness, the sense in which we use "bawbles" today, is the result of that narrowing, so a child's toy and a cheap piece of jewellery share the same root.

Synonyms: trinkets, knickknacks, baubles, gimcracks, fooleries

Antonyms: valuables, treasures, assets, prizes, jewels