tacky
1 Americanadjective
adjective
-
not tasteful or fashionable; dowdy.
-
shabby in appearance; shoddy.
a tacky, jerry-built housing development.
-
crass; cheaply vulgar; tasteless; crude.
-
gaudy; flashy; showy.
adjective
-
shabby or shoddy
-
ostentatious and vulgar
-
(of a person) dowdy; seedy
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tacky1
First recorded in 1780–90; tack 1 + -y 1
Origin of tacky2
1880–85, apparently identical with earlier tack(e)y small horse, pony, poor farmer; of obscure origin
Explanation
Things that are tacky are cheap, flashy, garish, gaudy, loud, tawdry, or trashy. Tacky clothes are a fashion nightmare, and tacky comments are embarrassing for everyone involved. If you wore a bright orange suit to school, with a neon green hat, you'd be dressing in a tacky way. Tacky clothes are usually inexpensive yet flashy and showy — obnoxious. When people make tasteless, trashy comments, it's also considered tacky. But if you're in art class and someone says that your paper-mâché project is tacky, don't get mad — they probably just mean that it's not dry yet and still sticky to the touch.
Vocabulary lists containing tacky
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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:
The trinket must be tacky, useless and tasteless, said Green.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
"As tacky as it sounds, it gives me more confidence in life."
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
The 22-year-old from Fife accepts that sometimes black and white shoots can feel "pretentious and tacky", but from watching the trailer, Spider-Noir feels different.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
Displays of it, particularly in architecture or public art, are often perceived as tacky, kitschy or, heaven forbid, nouveau riche.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
“Oh, I never guessed that you would be such a fun person to know. You were so hostile in that dreadful, tacky bar.”
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
“Any tacky magnet, the tackier the better,” she says.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 2, 2022
“We actually have a couple of options in terms of tackier balls,” Manfred said.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 18, 2021
"We actually have a couple of options in terms of tackier balls," Manfred said.
From Fox News ● Nov. 18, 2021
They’re quite different from Sony’s past foam tips, now with a thicker design that’s less rounded and with a tackier feel that helps them stay planted in your ears.
From The Verge ● Jun. 8, 2021
But I was the best tackier, and I was determined to get there first.
From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman
“He’s known for being very stylish and fashionable,” Reardon says, “so basically, Mike and Al said: ‘Put him in the tackiest Hawaiian shirts, black socks and sandals.’
From Washington Post ● Feb. 19, 2022
On Today, Manigault Newman interrupted host Savannah Guthrie several times to plug Unhinged in the tackiest possible way, once accusing Guthrie of not reading the book closely enough.
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2018
As the name suggests, guests are invited to wear the ugliest, tackiest holiday gear they can find.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2017
The weirdest music awards show of the year, and the tackiest, loudest live event of August, the VMAs are coming up again this Sunday, with Katy Perry set to host.
From The Verge ● Aug. 18, 2017
So, whatever, we’d shopped for fudge, we’d looked at wind socks, and finally we went into a tourist shop and tried on the tackiest bathing suits we could find.
From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart
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.
