tawdry
1Tawdry — Taw dry, a. [Compar. {Tawdrier}; superl. {Tawdriest}.] [Said to be corrupted from Saint Audrey, or Auldrey, meaning Saint Ethelreda, implying therefore, originally, bought at the fair of St. Audrey, where laces and gay toys of all sorts were sold …
2tawdry — cheap, showy, gaudy, 1670s, adjective use of noun tawdry silk necktie for women (1610s), shortened from tawdry lace (1540s), an alteration of St. Audrey s lace, a necktie or ribbon sold at the annual fair at Ely on Oct. 17 commemorating St.… …
3tawdry — ► ADJECTIVE (tawdrier, tawdriest) 1) showy but cheap and of poor quality. 2) sordid; sleazy. DERIVATIVES tawdriness noun. ORIGIN short for tawdry lace, a fine silk lace or ribbon, contraction of St Audrey s lace: Audrey was the patron saint of… …
4Tawdry — Taw dry, n.; pl. {Tawdries}. A necklace of a rural fashion, bought at St. Audrey s fair; hence, a necklace in general. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Of which the Naiads and the blue Nereids make Them tawdries for their necks. Drayton. [1913 Webster] …
5tawdry — I adjective baroque, bedizened, blatant, brummagem, catchpenny, cheap, common, crass, crude, flashy, garish, gaudy, glaring, glittering, inelegant, loud, meretricious, ostentatious, pretentious, shoddy, showy, sleazy, tasteless, tinsel, vulgar II …
6tawdry — *gaudy, garish, flashy, meretricious Analogous words: *showy, pretentious: vulgar, gross, *coarse: flamboyant, *ornate, florid …
7tawdry — [adj] cheap, tasteless blatant, brazen, chintzy*, common, crude, dirty, flaring, flashy, flaunting, garish, gaudy, gimcrack, glaring, glittering, glitzy, jazzy, junky*, loud, meretricious, obtrusive, offensive, plastic, poor, raffish, screaming,… …
8tawdry — [tô′drē] adj. tawdrier, tawdriest [by syllabic merging of St. Audrey, esp. in St. Audrey laces, women s neckpieces sold at St. Audrey s fair in Norwich, England] cheap and showy; gaudy; sleazy tawdriness n …
9tawdry — [[t]tɔ͟ːdri[/t]] tawdrier, tawdriest 1) ADJ GRADED If you describe something such as clothes or decorations as tawdry, you mean that they are cheap and show a lack of taste. ...tawdry jewellery. Syn: tacky 2) ADJ GRADED: usu ADJ n If you describe …
10tawdry — adjective (tawdrier, tawdriest) 1》 showy but cheap and of poor quality. 2》 sordid; sleazy. noun archaic cheap and gaudy finery. Derivatives tawdrily adverb tawdriness noun Word History Tawdry is short for tawdry lace, a …
