kitsch

kitsch \KICH\, noun:

1. Art characterized by pretentious bad taste.
2. Relating to, or characterized by, kitsch.

A fanatical collector of 1950s atomic kitsch and a talent scoutfor what might best be called "outsider art" and artists, Ms. Willis foundher online home.
-- Denise Caruso, "Success Stories From Ebay", New York Times, May 24, 1999

The tone isn't always matched, unfortunately, by that of the performances, which can veer toward kitsch and cuteness.
-- Ben Brantley, "Cymbeline': Masterful Fairy Tale of Troubled Romance", New York Times, June 5, 1999

One of his victims has her walls covered with erotic kitsch; awriter and his wife decorate their home as if it were a rejected stage set from "2001."
-- Edward Rothstein, "Kubrick and Beethoven, a Marriage Made in Hell", New York Times, March 15, 1999

Kitsch comes from German.