schlock

From Yiddish שלאַק (shlak), related to German Schlag (“blow”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʃlɒk/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ʃlɑk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒk

schlock (countable and uncountable, plural schlocks)

1. (colloquial, US) Any commodity that is shoddy or inferior; now, usually, writing or audiovisual content that is shoddy or inferior.

   Alternative form: shlock

   • 1978, Don DeLillo, Running Dog, New York: Knopf, page 148:

     Before pop art, there was such a thing as bad taste. Now there’s kitsch, schlock, camp and porn.

   • 1985 September 22, John Crowley, “St. Paul Meets Nero”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     “The Kingdom of the Wicked” is not Mr. Burgess at the top of his bent. It is not schlock. It is too individual, too original for that; […] .

   • 2024 June 18, Spencer Klavan, “A Matter of Taste”, in The American Mind‎^[2]:

     And just because leftoids make tripe from their position of strength is no reason for trads to make schlock from their position of weakness.

• “schlock n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present