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Kitsch vs Whimsy - What's the difference?

kitsch | whimsy |

As nouns the difference between kitsch and whimsy

is that kitsch is while whimsy is a quaint and fanciful idea a whim playfully odd behaviour.

As a verb whimsy is

to fill with whimsies or whims; to make fantastic; to craze.

kitsch

English

(wikipedia kitsch)

Noun

(-)
  • Art, decorative objects and other forms of representation of questionable artistic or aesthetic value; a representation that is excessively sentimental, overdone, or vulgar.
  • * 1939 , , " Avant Garde and Kitsch", The Partisan Review ,
    • Because it can be turned out mechanically, kitsch has become an integral part of our productive system in a way in which true culture could never be, except accidentally.

    Synonyms

    * camp

    Related terms

    * kitschy

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Said especially of art and decor that is considered to be of questionable aesthetic value; excessively sentimental, overdone or vulgar.
  • * 1989 , Graham Greene, Yours etc: Letters to the Press 1945-1989 , ISBN 1871061229, p. 243,
  • * 1996 , Robert Silberman, "The stuff of art: Judy Onofrio", American Craft , Jun/Jul 1996, pp. 40-45,
    • Abe Lincoln, Paul Bunyan and kitsch souvenir coconut heads come across as icons of masculinity.
  • * 2005 , Ronald Frame, "Critical Paranoia", Michigan Quarterly Review , Spring 2005, p. 285,
    • I recognized her at once even though she wasn't wearing the tweed hunting outfit and the kitsch headwear.

    Usage notes

    * Although the forms (kitscher) and (kitschest) are attested, those formed on (kitschy) are more common, particularly for the comparative.

    Synonyms

    * corny

    Anagrams

    * ----

    whimsy

    English

    Alternative forms

    * whimsey

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A quaint and fanciful idea. A whim. Playfully odd behaviour.
    • The whimsies of poets and painters. — Ray.
    Men's folly, whimsies , and inconstancy. — Swift.
    Mistaking the whimseys of a feverish brain for the calm revelation of truth. — Bancroft.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=May 27 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992) , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=It’s a lovely sequence cut too short because the show seems afraid to give itself over to romance and whimsy and wistfulness when it has wedgie jokes to deliver. }}
  • An impulsive, illogical or capricious character.
  • (mining) A whim.

    • Verb

  • To fill with whimsies or whims; to make fantastic; to craze.
  • * J. Fletcher
    • To have a man's brain whimsied with his wealth.