tawdry
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L341071 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈtɔːdɹi/ / /ˈtɔ.dɹi/ / /ˈtɑ.dɹi/
adj
Etymology: Shortened from tawdry lace; originally a corruption and rebracketing of Saint Audrey lace (from Old English Æðelþrȳð). The lace necklaces sold to pilgrims to Saint Audrey fell out of fashion in the 17th century, and so tawdry was reinterpreted as meaning “cheap” or “vulgar”.
- Of clothing, appearance, etc., cheap and gaudy; showy.
“The rest of his dress—a dress always sufficiently tawdry—was overcharged with lace, embroidery, and ornament of every kind, and the plume of feathers which he wore was so high, as if intended to sweep the roof of the hall.”
“This wasn't really a room for me; the green curtains before the windows were rather tawdry, and there was anything but an abundance of nails on the walls for hanging one's wardrobe.”
- Of a character, behavior, or situation, etc., unseemly, base, mean-spirited, shameful.
“[T]he "greaser" was a dirty, idle, shiftless, treacherous, tawdry vagabond, dwelling in a disgracefully primitive house, and backward in every aspect of civilization.”
“The woman's passion by his side seemed suddenly tawdry and unreal, the seeking of her lips for his something horrible.”
noun
Etymology: Shortened from tawdry lace; originally a corruption and rebracketing of Saint Audrey lace (from Old English Æðelþrȳð). The lace necklaces sold to pilgrims to Saint Audrey fell out of fashion in the 17th century, and so tawdry was reinterpreted as meaning “cheap” or “vulgar”.
- Tawdry lace.
- Anything gaudy and cheap; pretentious finery.
“That fiddling, parading fellow (you know who I mean) made us wait for him two hours […] only for the sake of having a little more tawdry upon his housings […].”