tinsel

[ tin-suh l ]

/ ˈtɪn səl /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR tinsel ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

adjective

consisting of or containing tinsel.

showy; gaudy; tawdry.

verb (used with object), tin·seled, tin·sel·ing or (especially British) tin·selled, tin·sel·ling.

to adorn with tinsel.

to adorn with anything glittering.

to make showy or gaudy.

Origin of tinsel

1495–1505; by aphesis < Middle French estincelle (Old French estincele) a spark, flash < Vulgar Latin *stincilla, metathetic variant of Latin scintilla scintilla; first used attributively in phrases tinsel satin, tinsel cloth

OTHER 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

tinnient, tinning, tinnitus, tinny, tinpot, tinsel, tinselly, tinselry, tinseltown, tinsmith, tinstone

Example sentences from the Web for tinsel

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 |DAILY BEAST
Tinsel, garland, and chestnut shells are the only combustibles on offer.

Twelve Unusual Christmas Reads |Stefan Beck |December 25, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
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 |DAILY BEAST
After a few opening songs, we broke up into small groups and hung wreaths and garlands and tinsel (oh my).

Jesus Made Me a Better Jew |Benyamin Cohen |December 24, 2008 |DAILY BEAST

Ratings for the tinsel town extravaganza tend to correlate with the popularity of the films nominated.

The Oscar Recession |Willa Paskin |November 11, 2008 |DAILY BEAST
Gilding and tinsel were no longer bright to her, silks and velvet were no longer soft.

The Bertrams |Anthony Trollope
And now the old work and the bed-ticking has come back again and ladies make the old-fashioned bags with tinsel thread.

A Little Girl in Old New York |Amanda Millie Douglas
The Latins, whom we call Roman Catholics, are much less handsomely lodged, and their tinsel is by far more dingy.

The Bertrams |Anthony Trollope
Was it worth it, we asked each other, this tinsel culture to which we had returned?

The Luck of Thirteen |Jan Gordon
There never was in Parliament a more remorseless or more effectual hand, in stripping off the tinsel of political pretension.

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 354, April 1845 |Various

British Dictionary definitions for tinsel

tinsel

/ (ˈtɪnsəl) /

noun

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

verb -sels, -selling or -selled or US -sels, -seling or -seled (tr)

to decorate with or as if with tinsel snow tinsels the trees

to give a gaudy appearance to

adjective

made of or decorated with tinsel

showily but cheaply attractive; gaudy

Derived forms of tinsel

tinsel-like, adjective tinselly, adjective

Word Origin for tinsel

C16: from Old French estincele a spark, from Latin scintilla; compare stencil

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

tinsel

noun

adjective

verb (used with object), tin·seled, tin·sel·ing or (especially British) tin·selled, tin·sel·ling.

Origin of tinsel

OTHER WORDS FROM tinsel

Words nearby tinsel

Example sentences from the Web for tinsel

British Dictionary definitions for tinsel

noun

verb -sels, -selling or -selled or US -sels, -seling or -seled (tr)

adjective

Derived forms of tinsel

Word Origin for tinsel

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

tinsel

noun

adjective

verb (used with object), tin·seled, tin·sel·ing or (especially British) tin·selled, tin·sel·ling.

Origin of tinsel

OTHER WORDS FROM tinsel

Words nearby tinsel

Words related to tinsel

Example sentences from the Web for tinsel

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for tinsel

noun

verb -sels, -selling or -selled or US -sels, -seling or -seled (tr)

adjective

Derived forms of tinsel

Word Origin for tinsel

British Dictionary definitions for tinsel