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DictionaryschlockShoddy quality
noun / adjective

schlock

SHLAHK/ʃlɑːk/

Cheap, low-quality goods or entertainment.

The souvenir shop sells mostly schlock that breaks within days.

A flimsy cheap souvenir breaks at a rough seam beside poorly glued plastic trinkets.
Etymology
schlockYiddishshoddy goods

Yiddish shlak supplies the sense of shoddy goods. One proposed origin connects it with German “dross,” picturing poor-quality merchandise as refuse; the source also gives an alternative derivation from a verb meaning “strike.”

In context

Jeremy Jahns6:37
Supergirl, on the other hand, is big studio schlock that feels more AI than soul. So, that's it. Boiled down, Supergirl is a generic sci-fi buddy fetch quest with bad lighting.
Supergirl - Movie Review

More examples

  • We laugh at the ridiculous monsters in old schlock movies.
  • She refuses to spend money on mass-produced schlock.
  • The network fills its late-night schedule with schlock.

Forms

schlock

schlocky adjective — Cheap, poorly made, or artistically inferior.

Similar words

junk
Usually refers to worthless objects rather than low-quality entertainment.
trash
Often condemns entertainment more harshly as worthless or offensive.
shoddy
Describes poor workmanship rather than naming the goods themselves.