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clinquant

[kling-kuh nt]
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adjective
  1. glittering, especially with tinsel; decked with garish finery.
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noun
  1. imitation gold leaf; tinsel; false glitter.
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Origin of clinquant

1585–95; < Middle French: clinking, present participle of clinquer (< Dutch klinken to sound); see -ant
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

goldshowytinsel

Examples from the Web for clinquant

Historical Examples

  • The clinquant corslet of the Swiss girl just survives at bals costums.

    The Works of Max Beerbohm

    Max Beerbohm

  • My eyes rejoice in the shine of it; its clinquant sound is music in my ears.

    Trivia

    Logan Pearsall Smith

  • Clinquant, klingk′ant, adj. shining like tinsel: glittering.

  • I liked Jack, but not clinquant in crimson and gold, with spurs and sword clanking on the hard, frost-bitten road.

    The Yeoman Adventurer

    George W. Gough

British Dictionary definitions for clinquant

clinquant

adjective
  1. glittering, esp with tinsel
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noun
  1. tinsel or imitation gold leaf
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Word Origin

C16: from French, from clinquer to clink, from Dutch klinken, of imitative origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012