gaudy
1 Americannoun
adjective
noun
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
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
Explanation
Something that's gaudy is showy, bright and definitely tacky. So think twice about that gaudy rainbow-colored suit and shiny gold shoes ensemble. Gaudy is an adjective that means "ostentatious" — in other words, flashy and in your face, and not in a good way. Someone in a gaudy outfit is probably trying too hard to be cool and stylish. Gaudy evolved from the Middle English gaud “deception, trick” in the 1520’s. That word, in turn, came from gaudi, used to describe a “large, ornamental bead in a rosary.”
Vocabulary lists containing gaudy
List 6
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Fast Food Nation
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Some projects have been viewed as gaudy or unnecessary, while others have been applauded by local residents.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
The fuss over the gaudy lawn sculpture seemed to delight the President, who suggested he’d maybe make it permanent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
Between Raton, N.M., and Trinidad, Colo., amid a gaudy sunset, we crept past a herd of elk, then plunged into a tunnel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2025
It'll be long and tiresome in Washington on Friday, it's got all the potential to be gaudy and embarrassing, uneasy on the eyes and the ears.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
My father loaned me one of his three moth-eaten, gaudy ties, with a tongue so wide it spanned the width of my waist.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Crocus and daffodil and violet, Pink, primrose, valley-lily, clove-carnation, Red rose and white rose, wall-flower, mignonette, The daisies all—these be her recreation, Her gaudies these!
From Hawthorn and Lavender with Other Verses by Henley, William Ernest
Marshal," said he to Chabannes, "we are told that over the Po yonder is Sir Prosper Colonna, with two thousand horse, in a town called Villafranca, apprehending nought and thinking of nought but gaudies.
From A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 4 by Black, Robert
The days on which they occur are called gaudies or gaudy days.
From A Collection of College Words and Customs by Hall, Benjamin Homer
It does not seek the new, but demands endless repetition of the same themes, merely with greater elaboration, gaudier technical effects and greater expense.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2025
As the plot gathers steam and accelerates, Johnson again offers a blunt evisceration of the privileged and powerful, only with fancier cocktails, showier bric-a-brac and gaudier outfits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2022
Butler had gaudier individual scoring performances, but Tatum was the steadier force.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 13, 2022
The numbers have become gaudier as the season has gone on—no twenty-year-old in history has done what he’s been doing so far for a full season.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 26, 2019
And then to the man of God, the junior partner, the department manager, the clerk; one and all they are carried off by girls of greater attractions and greater skill—girls who can cast gaudier flies.
From In Defense of Women by Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis)
Real money announces itself by being the gaudiest in any room.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2025
America came out of the horrific influenza pandemic more than a century ago, then embarked on what F. Scott Fitzgerald called “the greatest, gaudiest spree in history.”
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2022
It wasn’t the day’s gaudiest highlight, but to Prunty it laid bare the qualities that only the most daring passers possess.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 12, 2022
And that ring is not even considered the gaudiest.
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2021
Certainly during the Roaring Twenties, a time marked by what F. Scott Fitzgerald called “the greatest, gaudiest spree in history,” the Osage were not alone in their profligacy.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
