"schlock" meaning in English

See schlock in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ʃlɒk/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ʃlɑk/ [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-schlock.wav Forms: schlocks [plural]
Rhymes: -ɒk Etymology: From Yiddish שלאַק (shlak), related to German Schlag (“blow”). Etymology templates: {{bor|en|yi|שלאַק}} Yiddish שלאַק (shlak), {{cog|de|Schlag|t=blow}} German Schlag (“blow”) Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} 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. Tags: US, colloquial, countable, uncountable Derived forms: schlockbuster, schlocker, schlockfest, schlockmeister, schlockumentary, schlockware, schlocky Related terms: shlock [alternative], schlockiness Translations (commodity that is shoddy or inferior): camelote [feminine] (French), vacak (Hungarian), ócskaság (Hungarian), szarság [slang, vulgar] (Hungarian), szar (Hungarian), baratija [feminine] (Spanish)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "yi",
        "3": "שלאַק"
      },
      "expansion": "Yiddish שלאַק (shlak)",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Schlag",
        "t": "blow"
      },
      "expansion": "German Schlag (“blow”)",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Yiddish שלאַק (shlak), related to German Schlag (“blow”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "schlocks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "schlock (countable and uncountable, plural schlocks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "schlockbuster"
        },
        {
          "word": "schlocker"
        },
        {
          "word": "schlockfest"
        },
        {
          "word": "schlockmeister"
        },
        {
          "word": "schlockumentary"
        },
        {
          "word": "schlockware"
        },
        {
          "word": "schlocky"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              73,
              80
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1978, Don DeLillo, Running Dog, New York: Knopf, page 148:",
          "text": "Before pop art, there was such a thing as bad taste. Now there’s kitsch, schlock, camp and porn.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              81,
              88
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1985 September 22, John Crowley, “St. Paul Meets Nero”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "“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; […].",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              100,
              107
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2024 June 18, Spencer Klavan, “A Matter of Taste”, in The American Mind:",
          "text": "And just because leftoids make tripe from their position of strength is no reason for trads to make schlock from their position of weakness.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any commodity that is shoddy or inferior; now, usually, writing or audiovisual content that is shoddy or inferior."
      ],
      "id": "en-schlock-en-noun-KVdTRqha",
      "links": [
        [
          "commodity",
          "commodity"
        ],
        [
          "shoddy",
          "shoddy"
        ],
        [
          "inferior",
          "inferior"
        ],
        [
          "writing",
          "writing#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "audiovisual",
          "audiovisual#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial, US) Any commodity that is shoddy or inferior; now, usually, writing or audiovisual content that is shoddy or inferior."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "alternative"
          ],
          "word": "shlock"
        },
        {
          "word": "schlockiness"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "colloquial",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "commodity that is shoddy or inferior",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "camelote"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "commodity that is shoddy or inferior",
          "word": "vacak"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "commodity that is shoddy or inferior",
          "word": "ócskaság"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "commodity that is shoddy or inferior",
          "tags": [
            "slang",
            "vulgar"
          ],
          "word": "szarság"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "lang_code": "hu",
          "sense": "commodity that is shoddy or inferior",
          "word": "szar"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "commodity that is shoddy or inferior",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "baratija"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃlɒk/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃlɑk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-schlock.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-schlock.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-schlock.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-schlock.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-schlock.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɒk"
    }
  ],
  "word": "schlock"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "schlockbuster"
    },
    {
      "word": "schlocker"
    },
    {
      "word": "schlockfest"
    },
    {
      "word": "schlockmeister"
    },
    {
      "word": "schlockumentary"
    },
    {
      "word": "schlockware"
    },
    {
      "word": "schlocky"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "yi",
        "3": "שלאַק"
      },
      "expansion": "Yiddish שלאַק (shlak)",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Schlag",
        "t": "blow"
      },
      "expansion": "German Schlag (“blow”)",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Yiddish שלאַק (shlak), related to German Schlag (“blow”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "schlocks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "schlock (countable and uncountable, plural schlocks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "schlockiness"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms borrowed from Yiddish",
        "English terms derived from Yiddish",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Rhymes:English/ɒk",
        "Rhymes:English/ɒk/1 syllable",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              73,
              80
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1978, Don DeLillo, Running Dog, New York: Knopf, page 148:",
          "text": "Before pop art, there was such a thing as bad taste. Now there’s kitsch, schlock, camp and porn.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              81,
              88
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1985 September 22, John Crowley, “St. Paul Meets Nero”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "“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; […].",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              100,
              107
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2024 June 18, Spencer Klavan, “A Matter of Taste”, in The American Mind:",
          "text": "And just because leftoids make tripe from their position of strength is no reason for trads to make schlock from their position of weakness.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any commodity that is shoddy or inferior; now, usually, writing or audiovisual content that is shoddy or inferior."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "commodity",
          "commodity"
        ],
        [
          "shoddy",
          "shoddy"
        ],
        [
          "inferior",
          "inferior"
        ],
        [
          "writing",
          "writing#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "audiovisual",
          "audiovisual#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial, US) Any commodity that is shoddy or inferior; now, usually, writing or audiovisual content that is shoddy or inferior."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "alternative"
          ],
          "word": "shlock"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "colloquial",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃlɒk/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ʃlɑk/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-schlock.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-schlock.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-schlock.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-schlock.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-schlock.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɒk"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "commodity that is shoddy or inferior",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "camelote"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "commodity that is shoddy or inferior",
      "word": "vacak"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "commodity that is shoddy or inferior",
      "word": "ócskaság"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "commodity that is shoddy or inferior",
      "tags": [
        "slang",
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "word": "szarság"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "lang_code": "hu",
      "sense": "commodity that is shoddy or inferior",
      "word": "szar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "commodity that is shoddy or inferior",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "baratija"
    }
  ],
  "word": "schlock"
}

Download raw JSONL data for schlock meaning in English (4.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (f492ef9 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.