Gingerbread

Podcast 1 · Introduction

Gingerbread

A documentary-style narration: origin, meaning, and feel.

Part of speech

noun

Pronunciation

JIN-jer-bred  /ˈdʒɪndʒəbrɛd/

Definition

A type of cake or biscuit flavoured with ginger and other spices; (as a modifier) ornate or elaborate in a showy, excessive way — gingerbread decoration.

Plain meaning

Gingerbread is the spiced, ginger-flavoured baked good — cake, biscuit, or house. As an adjective, gingerbread describes something excessively or showily ornate.

Register

Neutral in food contexts. Slightly dismissive in the figurative decoration sense — gingerbread architecture implies excessive ornamental elaboration. The food sense is warm and festive; the figurative sense is mildly critical.