tawdry

[ taw-dree ]

/ ˈtɔ dri /

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See synonyms for: tawdry / tawdrily / tawdriness on Thesaurus.com

adjective, taw·dri·er, taw·dri·est.

(of finery, trappings, etc.) gaudy; showy and cheap.

low or mean; base: tawdry motives.

noun

cheap, gaudy apparel.

OTHER WORDS FOR tawdry

1 flashy, meretricious.

See synonyms for tawdry on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR tawdry

1 elegant.

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Origin of tawdry

1605–15; short for (Sain)t Audrey lace, i.e., neck lace bought at St. Audrey's Fair in Ely, England; so called after St. Audrey (Old English Aethelthrȳth, died 679), Northumbrian queen and patron saint of Ely, who, according to tradition, died of a throat tumor which she considered just punishment of her youthful liking for neck laces

OTHER WORDS FROM tawdry

taw·dri·ly, adverbtaw·dri·ness, nounun·taw·dry, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tawdry in a sentence

Each day, I looked forward to watching the poor acting, the outlandish plot twists, the tawdry behavior.
To detox from the news, I binge-watched ‘Dallas.’ It was more than just fun.|Sibbie O'Sullivan|January 20, 2021|Washington Post
Many of them, no doubt, were far from edifying, but none could be found guilty of the threadbare tawdriness of pose.
Dodo's Daughter|E. F. Benson
The first impression which one receives upon entering the inner precincts of the kraton is of tawdriness and dilapidation.
Where the Strange Trails Go Down|E. Alexander Powell
Hygiene has not passed within the Mellah's walls, but a certain amount of Western tawdriness has.
Morocco|S.L. Bensusan

Modest black dresses, pale faces, mournful smiles, and darkness would be far more effective than this clumsy tawdriness.
The Schoolmistress and Other Stories|Anton Chekhov
Good taste reigning over lavish expenditure has prevented chromatic richness from seeming to approach tawdriness.
Brave Men and Women|O.E. Fuller

British Dictionary definitions for tawdry

tawdry

/ (ˈtɔːdrɪ) /

adjective -drier or -driest

cheap, showy, and of poor qualitytawdry jewellery

Derived forms of tawdry

tawdrily, adverbtawdriness, noun

Word Origin for tawdry

C16 tawdry lace, shortened and altered from Seynt Audries lace, finery sold at the fair of St Audrey (Etheldrida), 7th-century queen of Northumbria and patron saint of Ely, Cambridgeshire

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

tawdry

OTHER WORDS FOR tawdry

OPPOSITES FOR tawdry

Origin of tawdry

OTHER WORDS FROM tawdry

Words related to tawdry

How to use tawdry in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for tawdry

Derived forms of tawdry

Word Origin for tawdry