gimcrack adj : tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts"; "a meretricious yet stylish book"; "tawdry ornaments" [syn: brassy, cheap, flash, flashy, garish, gaudy, loud, meretricious, tacky, tatty, tawdry, trashy]

English

Etymology

Unknown

Adjective

gimcrack

1. showy but of poor quality; worthless

Derived terms

• gimcrackery

Gimcrack (1760-?) was is an English thoroughbred racehorse sired by Cripple, a son of the Godolphin Arabian.

Gimcrack is best known from the paintings by George Stubbs.

A small horse at 14.2 hands, Gimcrack was nonetheless widely successful, winning 27 of his 36 races in a turf career spanning 7 seasons.

The Gimcrack Club, in York was founded in 1766 in his honour, and the Gimcrack Stakes, also at York, are therefore also named after the horse.

His bloodline is more notable in US horse racing than in British, via his son Medley.

External links

• Gimcrack with John Pratt up on Newmarket Heath at the Fitwilliam Museum

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