gimmick

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɪm.ɪk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪmɪk

Noun

gimmick (plural gimmicks)

1. 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^[1]:

     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 Albert Stainback, a more thoughtful yet more erratic and undisciplined fighter whose chief gimmick is entering the ring wearing a hat like the one Malcolm McDowell wore in A Clockwork Orange.

   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, 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.

2. A clever ploy or strategy.

   The contest was a gimmick to get people to sign up for their mailing list.

3. (electronics) A gimmick capacitor.
4. (Philippines) A night out with one's friends.

Derived terms

• gimmick account
• gimmickry
• gimmicky

 

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 (ka) (xriḳi), ტრიუკი (ṭriuḳi), ფანდი (ka) (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), artilugio (es) m
• 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 (ka) (pandi), ხრიკი (ka) (xriḳi), ეშმაკობა (ešmaḳoba)
• German: Aufhänger m (advertising), Gag (de) m (colloquial)
• Hebrew: גימיק (he) m
• Italian: stratagemma (it) m
• Polish: chwyt (pl) m, myk (pl) 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)

1. 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–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gim¹ mik⁴
    • Yale: gīm mìhk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gim¹ mik⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: gim¹ mig⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kiːm⁵⁵ mɪk̚²¹/

Noun

gimmick

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) gimmick

Adjective

gimmick

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) gimmicky

   gimmick嘢 [Cantonese]  ―  gim¹ mik⁴ je⁵ [Jyutping]  ―  things with gimmicks

References

• English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English gimmick.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡi.mik/

  • Audio (Quebec, Mauricie, Shawinigan, vernacular French):

    (file)

Noun

gimmick m (plural gimmicks)

1. gimmick