chintzy

American  

[chint-see] / ˈtʃɪnt si /

adjective

chintzier, chintziest

1. of, like, or decorated with chintz.

2. cheap, inferior, or gaudy.

3. stingy; miserly.

   a chintzy way to entertain guests.

   Synonyms:

   close, cheap

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chintzy British  

/ ˈtʃɪntsɪ /

adjective

1. of, resembling, or covered with chintz

2. informal typical of the decor associated with the use of chintz soft furnishings, as in a country cottage

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Etymology

Origin of chintzy

First recorded in 1850–55; chintz + -y ¹; chinchy, which has reinforced figurative senses

Example Sentences

Back then, IBM certainly wouldn’t have hired weird longish-haired geeks like Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who were working with chintzy little microprocessors that paled in comparison with IBM’s mighty mainframes.

From The Wall Street Journal

From its opening sequence, where Johnson’s Kerr blasts through a chintzy Egyptian pyramid to enter the ring at an early fight in Brazil, the movie looks fantastic.

From Salon

We take a deep breath as the chintzy, 90-minute holiday sewage piles onto us, ready to watch it all and come out victorious on the other side.

From Salon

What he presents in the first half is cringeworthy: a chintzy and cheesy playacting of the chaos, with any discussion of the issues.

From Los Angeles Times

Asked about roster construction, Cronin compared his team to the chintzy Cincinnati Reds fighting the cash-infused Dodgers for free agents based on UCLA’s shortfall in NIL dollars preventing it from snagging top transfers.

From Los Angeles Times