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
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Fast Food Nation
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
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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.
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
He probably does think slapping his name on a gaudy structure will be enough to overcome the historical record of his failures.
From Salon ● May 20, 2026
If you think of late-career Elvis Presley as only a plump and gaudy Las Vegas crooner slinging schlock in the 1970s, you’re about to get all shook up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026
In a letter to critic George Jean Nathan, he described the conclusion as “merely the comma at the end of a gaudy introductory clause, with the body of the sentence still unwritten.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025
Lancelot, who did not care for gaudy things, wore a few heron’s hackles bound with silver thread, which suited the argent of his shield.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
The days on which they occur are called gaudies or gaudy days.
From A Collection of College Words and Customs by Hall, Benjamin Homer
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
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
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
Russell’s NBA peers definitely noticed, voting Russell league MVP five times — once more than Chamberlain — despite Wilt having far gaudier offensive stats.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 31, 2022
There are other pitchers who have gaudier numbers, including Dodger teammate Tony Gonsolin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2022
The gaudier semifinal between brawny 12-1 teams, envisioned as a trading of bruises late into the night, didn’t take up much of your night or chew up any of your nerves.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 1, 2022
The Golden Palace, for instance, had much gaudier gaming rooms.
From Occasion for Disaster by Garrett, Randall
Real money announces itself by being the gaudiest in any room.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2025
The Times critic Bosley Crowther wrote that the movie offers audiences “the gaudiest layout of gadgets this side of a Florida hotel.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2021
Nor did Harding envision what F. Scott Fitzgerald called “the greatest, gaudiest spree in history” — the Roaring Twenties.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 3, 2021
It must run in the family--Demme's father did publicity for the Fontainebleau, Miami Beach's gaudiest luxury hotel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2017
She chose the gaudiest one there—four-inch-high ballet dancers in purple tutus, their pink legs pirouetting on a greenish four- in-hand.
From "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson
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.
