tawdry
[taw-dree]
- (of finery, trappings, etc.) gaudy; showy and cheap.
- low or mean; base: tawdry motives.
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- cheap, gaudy apparel.
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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
Synonyms
See more synonyms for tawdry on Thesaurus.com1. flashy, meretricious.
Antonyms
1. elegant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tawdry
Contemporary Examples
The show has been accused of peddling the kind of tawdry sentiment that has driven the inhabitants of Detroit to distraction.
So, why is it, then that are there so few movies lately that are not jaded, tawdry, humorlessly moralistic, or amorally violent?
But using donors to enrich oneself is as an old and tawdry practice that is about getting rich, not famous.
The tawdry details of the Clinton scandals differed, but the basic narrative was one to which Americans were becoming inured.
The only way to achieve this, she decides, is to live tawdrily, in a tawdry place.
Historical Examples
The few ornaments were new, and not at all dusty or dingy or tawdry.
The ForestStewart Edward White
The town was tawdry in its preparations--and knew it; but half sincere in its enthusiasm--and knew it.
The ForestStewart Edward White
The effect of this was certainly incongruous, not to say tawdry.
Aztec LandMaturin M. Ballou
The fire was the really great adornment; all else was cheap, and some of it was tawdry.
Wayside CourtshipsHamlin Garland
The fire was the only adornment; all else was cheap, and some of it was tawdry.
Other Main-Travelled RoadsHamlin Garland
tawdry
- cheap, showy, and of poor qualitytawdry jewellery
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for tawdry
adj.
"cheap, showy, gaudy," 1670s, adjective use of noun tawdry "silk necktie for women" (1610s), shortened from tawdry lace (1540s), an alteration of St. Audrey's lace, a necktie or ribbon sold at the annual fair at Ely on Oct. 17 commemorating St. Audrey (queen of Northumbria, died 679). Her association with cheap lace necklaces is that she supposedly died of a throat tumor, which she considered God's punishment for her youthful fondness for showy necklaces [Bede].
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper