schlock
Bargain bin refuse
Schlock is cheap, trashy, or low-quality merchandise or entertainment.
The word comes from Yiddish and carries affectionate contempt—acknowledging something is bad while suggesting it might be enjoyably so: We watched schlocky horror movies all weekend.
Schlock horror, schlock fiction, and schlock art deliver guilty pleasures without pretense of quality.
Tasteless, garish art
flashy · loud · ostentatious · glitzy · cheesy · campy · kitschy · overwrought
Of poor craftsmanship
- substandardBelow required quality
- second-rateBelow acceptable standards
- cheapLow in price
- trashyCheap and tasteless
junky · crummy · lousy · tawdry · chintzy · third-rate · subpar · low-quality
Low-budget, low-quality film
- pulpSoft wet mass
- potboilerWork made for money
- trashDiscarded worthless material
- hackShortcut or breach
exploitation · grindhouse · melodrama · tearjerker · soap-opera · tabloid · sensationalist · bodice-ripper
kitsch
Tasteless, garish art
vulgar · flashy · loud · ostentatious · glitzy · cheesy · campy · kitschy · overwrought · tacky
shoddy
Of poor craftsmanship
- substandardBelow required quality
- second-rateBelow acceptable standards
- cheapLow in price
trashy · junky · crummy · lousy · tawdry · chintzy · third-rate · subpar · low-quality · mediocre
B-movie
Low-budget, low-quality film
hack · exploitation · grindhouse · melodrama · tearjerker · soap-opera · tabloid · sensationalist · bodice-ripper · schmaltz
schmatte
Yiddish for cheap cloth
- drekWorthless or inferior goods
- schmaltzPoultry fat or sentimentality
- shtickPerformer's signature gimmick
schmooze · schlep · schmo · schnoz · shmutz · schmeer · kvetch · klutz · chutzpah · tchotchke
imitation
Copy of the original
- counterfeitFraudulent imitation
- fakeNot the real thing
- bootlegIllegally produced goods
replica · phony · ersatz · bogus · sham · pseudo · knockoff · copycat · ripoff · mass-produced
- tackinesstackiness, gaudiness, garishness, tawdriness, trashiness
- cheesy thingscorniness, tackiness, kitsch, hokiness, cliche
- Yiddishchutzpah, kvetch, mensch, schlep, tchotchke
- B-moviesB-movie, exploitation film, exploitation films, cult film, cult classic
- Cult FilmsEraserhead, The Room, Donnie Darko, Napoleon Dynamite, Army of Darkness
- Kitschkitsch, kitschy, tacky, gaudy, garish
schlockquality
Standard or attribute
first-rate · excellence · high-grade · top-notch · superior
schlockcraftsmanship
Skill in making objects
handcrafted · artisanal · handmade · bespoke · well-made