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:
As well as raising unfounded doubts about the bump, some people criticised the star's overall look on social media, calling it "ridiculous", "tacky" and "bizarre".
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The tourism board should study how Wain sells a tacky California vacation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
"As tacky as it sounds, it gives me more confidence in life."
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
One problem, though: Untreated rubber becomes brittle when exposed to cold, and tacky and runny when hot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
Before it had been tacky and flossy and drab.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
A sold-out, four-night extravaganza, it is a passion project that begins long before the suitcases come out with holiday merch, the tackier the better.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
“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
After we’d gone about halfway through the team, Kevin ended up in the middle, as the tackier against Chas.
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
It’s the most wonderful — and tackiest — night of the year at the Anthem, where members of the National Symphony Orchestra perform classic holiday melodies while wearing ugly holiday sweaters.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 23, 2021
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
