Meaning of brummagem | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Cheap and showy; meretricious.
   not-comparable
2. Alternative letter-case form of brummagem (“cheap and showy”).
   alt-of, not-comparable

Examples

“The unhappy man (who had cheated the sailors), innocent of danger, is seated on a grating with his combs, spy-glasses, necklaces, ribbons, and all the rest⟳ of his "Brummagem" trumpery, spread⟳ out before him.”

“"My, my, my, my, my," said a voice from behind them, and the Baudelaire orphans turned to find⟳ Stephano standing there,...a look⟳ of brummagem surprise⟳ on his face⟳. "Brummagem" is such a rare word for "fake" that even Klaus didn't know⟳ what it meant, but the children did not have⟳ to be told that Stephano was pretending to be surprised.”

“The colloquial form⟳ of the city’s name⟳ thus entered the language as a contemptuous epithet. In 1861 the word was used to describe⟳ “The vulgar dandy, strutting along, with his Brummajem jewellry”; to “Birminhamize” was “to artificialize.””

“He was “great” (as he expressed it) with the Bloomer who kept the bar where their club was held, and whom he styled “a spiffy girl,” and who had been graciously pleased to accept⟳ of a pair of very Brummagem-looking earrings, set⟳ with paste diamonds, with which he had presented her.”

CEFR level