adjective
Related Words
See gaudy 1.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of garish
1535–45; earlier gaurish, perhaps equivalent to obsolete gaure “to stare” ( Middle English gauren, from Old Norse ) + -ish 1
Explanation
Use the adjective garish to describe something that is overly vivid, bright, showy, and in bad taste — like the DJ's garish outfit that is a flashback to the disco era. Garish comes to English from the Old Norse word gaurr, meaning "rough fellow." It is often used to describe colors, clothing, decorations, and other things that can be elegant and tasteful. Because the word connotes bad taste, however, it is rarely used in a complimentary way. If you say to your friend, "I like your garish hair and makeup," she is not likely to take it well, unless, of course, you are going to a 70s flashback party.
Vocabulary lists containing garish
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Garish red-gold land iguanas may freeze in place as hikers pass, but blue-footed boobies freely perform their mating dance and sea lions roll around on land, oblivious to intruders.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 3, 2023
They are hoping for a “Proper, Presentable Daughter”; “nothing too Madcap or Garish or Wacky” is allowed in their sleepy neighborhood.
From The New Yorker • Jun. 25, 2019
Garish and showy and heavy handed in his taste, he was, to the bone, Elvis himselvis, the kid from small-town Mississippi made inordinately good.
From Time • Jul. 22, 2017
Garish, musty-smelling clothes that were very slightly sticky to the touch.
From The Guardian • Sep. 8, 2014
Garish notices inform in five languages that fresh caviare is received each day.
From A Tramp's Sketches by Graham, Stephen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
