tawdry
English · Thesaurus
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tawdry
- /ˈtɔːdɹi/ UK
- /ˈtɔ.dɹi/ US
- /ˈtɑ.dɹi/ cot caught merger
Rhymes with -ɔːdɹi
Where it comes from
Shortened from tawdry lace; originally a corruption and rebracketing of Saint Audrey lace (from Old English Æðelþrȳð). The lace necklaces sold to pilgrims to Saint Audrey fell out of fashion in the 17th century, and so tawdry was reinterpreted as meaning “cheap” or “vulgar”.
noun tawdries
adjective tawdrier · tawdriest
-
Of clothing, appearance, etc., cheap and gaudy; showy.
The rest of his dress—a dress always sufficiently tawdry—was overcharged with lace, embroidery, and ornament of every kind, and the plume of feathers which he wore was so high, as if intended to sweep the roof of the hall.
Similar: bedizened, blatant, blingish, brash, campy, catchpenny, chichi, chintzy, corny, crass, crude, flashy
-
Of a character, behavior, or situation, etc., unseemly, base, mean-spirited, shameful.
[T]he "greaser" was a dirty, idle, shiftless, treacherous, tawdry vagabond, dwelling in a disgracefully primitive house, and backward in every aspect of civilization.
Similar: sordid
Translations
Every language
adj gaudy
| Español | hortera, chabacano, charro |
|---|---|
| Português | espalhafatoso, mixuruca |
| Français | kitsch, tape-à-l’œil |
| Deutsch | kitschig, geschmacklos, flitterhaft, bunt, aufgetakelt, aufgedonnert |
| Ελληνικά | αγιοβασιλιάτικος agiovasiliátikos |
| Русский | безвку́сный bezvkúsnyj |
adj unseemly, base, shameful, sordid
| Deutsch | schäbig, ungehörig, unschicklich, ungebührlich, unziemlich, unziemend |
|---|
Talk about this word "tawdry." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tawdry. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. tawdry. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tawdry "tawdry." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tawdry.Cite this
@misc{tawdry_2026,
title = {tawdry},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tawdry},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
