pacotille

cheap goods, junk

noun pa-ko-TEE Rare

Usage Note

Pacotille originally referred to small goods that sailors were allowed to carry duty-free for personal trade; today it means cheap, shoddy merchandise. The phrase de pacotille ('of poor quality, cheap') is very common as a post-nominal adjective: un bijou de pacotille ('a cheap trinket'). It carries a dismissive tone and is used for both objects and, figuratively, inferior ideas or people.

Examples

"Ces souvenirs sont de la pure pacotille."

Natural Translation

These souvenirs are pure junk.

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