tinsel
a glittering metallic substance, as copper or brass, in thin sheets, used in pieces, strips, threads, etc., to produce a sparkling effect cheaply.
a metallic yarn, usually wrapped around a core yarn of silk, rayon, or cotton, for weaving brocade or lamé.
anything showy or attractive with little or no real worth; showy pretense: The actress was tired of the fantasy and tinsel of her life.
Obsolete. a fabric, formerly in use, of silk or wool interwoven with threads of gold, silver, or, later, copper.
to adorn with tinsel.
to adorn with anything glittering.
to make showy or gaudy.
Origin of tinsel
1Other words from tinsel
- tin·sel·like, adjective
- o·ver·tin·sel, verb (used with object), o·ver·tin·seled, o·ver·tin·sel·ing or (especially British) o·ver·tin·selled, o·ver·tin·sel·ling.
- un·tin·seled, adjective
- un·tin·selled, adjective
Words Nearby tinsel
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use tinsel in a sentence
Hollywood sure hopes so, because the idea that disgruntled insiders could do this is terrifying to tinsel Town.
Pyongyang Shuffle: Hollywood In Dead Panic Over Sony Hack | James Poulos | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTtinsel, garland, and chestnut shells are the only combustibles on offer.
The 46-look collection consisted of drop-waist skirts, cellophane cocktail dresses, and translucent and tinsel fabrics.
Marc Jacobs's Entire Spring / Summer 2012 Collection Stolen | Isabel Wilkinson | November 16, 2011 | THE DAILY BEASTThen I begin to see tinsel, and Christmas lights, and stars, and trees dripping with colored balls.
After a few opening songs, we broke up into small groups and hung wreaths and garlands and tinsel (oh my).
Stripped of its parade and tinsel, however, this theory is nothing but the old pantheism revived.
Gospel Philosophy | J. H. WardClearly the sans-culotte of Brussels was a mere tinsel imitation of the genuine article at Paris.
Belgium | George W. T. (George William Thomson) OmondBody greenish herl of Peacock,—ribbed with gold tinsel,—wrapt with red silk,—red hackle over all.
The Teesdale Angler | R LakelandIt was Jim Carter, whose suit of cotton batting, decorated with tinsel and cedar, was most becoming.
The Story of the Big Front Door | Mary Finley LeonardThe harness is extremely gay, painted in all colours, red and blue and yellow, and made up with bits of tinsel and glitter.
Round the Wonderful World | G. E. Mitton
British Dictionary definitions for tinsel
/ (ˈtɪnsəl) /
a decoration consisting of a piece of string with thin strips of metal foil attached along its length
a yarn or fabric interwoven with strands of glittering thread
anything cheap, showy, and gaudy
to decorate with or as if with tinsel: snow tinsels the trees
to give a gaudy appearance to
made of or decorated with tinsel
showily but cheaply attractive; gaudy
Origin of tinsel
1Derived forms of tinsel
- tinsel-like, adjective
- tinselly, adjective
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
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