gaudy

¹

[ gaw-dee ]

adjective

, gaud·i·er, gaud·i·est.

1. brilliantly or excessively showy:

   gaudy plumage.

2. cheaply showy in a tasteless way; flashy.

   Synonyms: obvious, conspicuous, loud, tawdry

   Antonyms: sober, modest

3. ostentatiously ornamented; garish.

gaudy

²

[ gaw-dee ]

noun

, British.

, plural gaud·ies.

1. a festival or celebration, especially an annual college feast.

gaudy

¹

/ ˈɡɔːdɪ /

noun

1. a celebratory festival or feast held at some schools and colleges

gaudy

²

/ ˈɡɔːdɪ /

adjective

1. gay, bright, or colourful in a crude or vulgar manner; garish

Derived Forms

• ˈgaudiness, noun
• ˈgaudily, adverb

Other Words From

• gaud·i·ly adverb
• gaud·i·ness noun
• un·gaud·i·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of gaudy¹

First recorded in 1520–30; originally attributive use of gaudy ²( def ); later taken as a derivative of gaud ( def )

Origin of gaudy²

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin gaudium joy, delight

Word History and Origins

Origin of gaudy¹

C16: from Latin gaudium joy, from gaudēre to rejoice

Origin of gaudy²

C16: from gaud

Synonym Study

Gaudy, flashy, garish, showy agree in the idea of conspicuousness and, often, bad taste. That which is gaudy challenges the eye, as by brilliant colors or evident cost, and is not in good taste: a gaudy hat. Flashy suggests insistent and vulgar display, in rather a sporty manner: a flashy necktie. Garish suggests a glaring brightness, or crude vividness of color, and too much ornamentation: garish decorations. Showy applies to that which is strikingly conspicuous, but not necessarily offensive to good taste: a garden of showy flowers; a showy dress.

Example Sentences

Ubiquitously dyed in bright and gaudy colors, they unsurprisingly didn’t serve any practical purpose.

From Realm of History

Gaming headsets tend to identify themselves with gaudy, RGB-enhanced styling.

From Popular-Science

Each character’s mind movie gets its own episode, interspersed with scenes of their classmates comforting and irritating one another at Xavier’s gaudy house as the interrogation takes place.

From Time

Now, it feels impractical, which makes its gamer-gear styling feel gaudy, rather than futuristic.

From Popular-Science

Ignore your GPS and explore the side streets, which will help you circumvent traffic and the gaudy clamor.

From Washington Post

Much like the Taj Mahal, Revel opened in classically gaudy Atlantic City style in April 2012—with a sunrise Champagne toast.

From The Daily Beast

Very few boys in Baltimore had been to bed that night: The show was altogether too gaudy.

From The Daily Beast

There is a purity that extends from north Orlando to this gathering of gaudy dilettantes.

From The Daily Beast

In this narrative, the disgraced former President with his gaudy taste for golden toilets and exotic zoos, is cast as the Joker.

From The Daily Beast

U2 dropped a new single amidst the gaudy commercials on Super Bowl Sunday.

From The Daily Beast

Batterby, in gaudy raiment, went to an office in Manchester; in gaudier raiment he often attended race meetings.

From Project Gutenberg

The belated moon stole up from its lair, hovered above the sky-line, a gaudy orange sphere in the haze of smoke.

From Project Gutenberg

Not even in Agra, and certainly not in gaudy Lucknow, had Malcolm seen any structure of such striking architectural effect.

From Project Gutenberg

She laughed at the comedy and wept—she and the gaudy woman next to her wept over the tragedy.

From Project Gutenberg

We got Fanny a dress on the sly, gaudy black velvet and Duchesse lace.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• brilliant
• flashy
• garish
• jazzy
• ostentatious
• showy
• snazzy
• splashy