bazaar

A bazaar is a market that has rows and rows of little shops selling miscellaneous stuff — like tube socks, velvet paintings, and corn on the cob.

Bazaar is originally a Persian word, and means "marketplace" all over the Middle East. The word was picked up by the Italians, and spread through Europe and into English. At a bazaar in Istanbul, you'd find food, electronics, clothes — useful stuff. In English, we tend to use bazaar for something closer to a flea market. Although they sound alike, bazaar has no relation to bizarre (the super weird).

Definitions of bazaar

noun
a street of small shops (especially in the Orient)

synonyms: bazar

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type of:
market, market place, marketplace, mart
an area in a town where a public mercantile establishment is set up
noun
a shop where a variety of goods are sold

synonyms: bazar

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type of:
shop, store
a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
noun
a sale of miscellany; often for charity

“the church bazaar”

synonyms: fair

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types:
book fair, bookfair
bazaar at which books are sold or auctioned off in order to raise funds for a worthy cause

craft fair
a fair at which objects made by craftsmen are offered for sale

type of:
cut-rate sale, sale, sales event
an occasion (usually brief) for buying at specially reduced prices

Commonly confused words

bazaar / bizarre

Bazaar and bizarre might sound alike but a bazaar is a market and bizarre describes something kooky. There could be a bizarre bazaar run by monkeys selling people feet.

Word Family

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bazaar

bazaar / bizarre

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