tawdry

[ taw-dree ]
/ ˈtɔ dri /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR tawdry 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.

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, adverb taw·dri·ness, noun un·taw·dry, adjective

Words nearby tawdry

taverner, tavr, taw, tawa, tawai, tawdry, tawheowheo, tawhiri, tawie, tawney, tawny

Words related to tawdry

tacky, sleazy, vulgar, blatant, brazen, chintzy, common, crude, dirty, flashy, garish, gaudy, gimcrack, glaring, jazzy, loud, meretricious, obtrusive, offensive, plastic

Example sentences from the Web for tawdry

British Dictionary definitions for tawdry

tawdry
/ (ˈtɔːdrɪ) /

adjective -drier or -driest

cheap, showy, and of poor quality tawdry jewellery

Derived forms of tawdry

tawdrily, adverb tawdriness, 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