tawdry
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taw·dry
(tô′drē)adj. taw·dri·er, taw·dri·est
1. Gaudy and cheap in nature or appearance. See Synonyms at garish.
2. Shameful or indecent: tawdry secrets.
n.
Cheap and gaudy finery.
[From tawdry lace, lace necktie, alteration of Saint Audrey's lace (sold at the annual Saint Audrey's fair, Ely, England), after Saint Audrey (Saint Etheldreda), queen of Northumbria, who died in 679 of a throat tumor, supposedly because she delighted in fancy necklaces as a young woman.]
taw′dri·ly adv.
taw′dri·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
tawdry
(ˈtɔːdrɪ)adj, -drier or -driest
cheap, showy, and of poor quality: tawdry jewellery.
[C16 tawdry lace, shortened and altered from Seynt Audries lace, finery sold at the fair of St Audrey (Etheldrida), 7th-century queen of Northumbria and patron saint of Ely, Cambridgeshire]
ˈtawdrily adv
ˈtawdriness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
taw•dry
(ˈtɔ dri)adj. -dri•er, -dri•est,
n. adj.
1. showy and cheap; gaudy.
2. low or mean; base.
n. 3. cheap, gaudy apparel.
[1605–15; short for (Sain)t Audrey lace, i.e., neck lace bought at St. Audrey's Fair in Ely, England]
taw′dri•ly, adv.
taw′dri•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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Adj. | 1. | tawdry - tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts"; "a meretricious yet stylish book"; "tawdry ornaments" tasteless - lacking aesthetic or social taste |
2. | tawdry - cheap and shoddy; "cheapjack moviemaking...that feeds on the low taste of the mob"- Judith Crist inferior - of low or inferior quality |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
tawdry
adjective vulgar, cheap, tacky (informal), flashy, tasteless, plastic (slang), glittering, naff (Brit. slang), gaudy, tatty, showy, tinsel, raffish, gimcrack, meretricious, tinselly, cheap-jack (informal) tawdry jewellery
elegant, stylish, tasteful, simple, plain, refined, graceful, well-tailored, unostentatious, unflashy
elegant, stylish, tasteful, simple, plain, refined, graceful, well-tailored, unostentatious, unflashy
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
tawdry
adjectiveThe American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
tawdry
[ˈtɔːdrɪ] ADJ (tawdrier (compar) (tawdriest (superl))) [jewellery] → de oropel, de relumbrón; [clothes] → chabacano, hortera (Sp) ; [decor] → charro, hortera (Sp) ; [place, town] → chabacano; (= sordid) [affair, business] → sórdidoCollins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
tawdry
[ˈtɔːdri] adj (= sordid) [reality, tale, affair] → sordide
(= tacky) [jewellery, clothes] → toc
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
tawdry
adj (+er) clothes → billig und geschmacklos; hat, splendour, decorations → ordinär; person, appearance → aufgedonnert; story, idea → geschmacklos; all this cheap and tawdry jewellery → all dieser billige Flitterkram
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
tawdry
[ˈtɔːdrɪ] adj (-ier (comp) (-iest (superl))) → pacchiano/aCollins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995