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

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of chintzy

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

Explanation

Something that's chintzy is tacky or cheap. A badly made pair of pants is chintzy, and a terribly acted, melodramatic movie is too. Things made of inferior materials are chintzy: "I like the neighborhood, but the house is so badly built, with really chintzy kitchen cabinets and closet doors." Another way to use this adjective is to mean "stingy," or "ungenerous." You might complain about your chintzy boss at work, who's known for giving workers five cent raises and not paying for overtime. Chintzy comes from the cotton fabric known as chintz, from the ordinariness of this common material.

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 • Jan. 18, 2026

Fleischer’s signature style is slick but chintzy, which works here.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2025

It’s a bit chintzy for the United States of America to accept a used plane from another country for its presidential transport.

From Slate • May 17, 2025

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 • Dec. 21, 2024

The chintzy chair is nice and roomy, and I don’t resist pulling my legs up into it.

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali