Tawdriest

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Tawdry \Taw"dry\, a. [Compar. {Tawdrier}; superl. {Tawdriest}.]
     [Said to be corrupted from Saint Audrey, or Auldrey, meaning
     Saint Ethelreda, implying therefore, originally, bought at
     the fair of St. Audrey, where laces and gay toys of all sorts
     were sold. This fair was held in Isle Ely, and probably at
     other places, on the day of the saint, which was the 17th of


     October.]
     1. Bought at the festival of St. Audrey. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              And gird in your waist,
              For more fineness, with a tawdry lace. --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Very fine and showy in colors, without taste or elegance;
        having an excess of showy ornaments without grace; cheap
        and gaudy; as, a tawdry dress; tawdry feathers; tawdry
        colors.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He rails from morning to night at essenced fops and
              tawdry courtiers.                     --Spectator.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  tawdry
       adj 1: tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish
              colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts"; "a
              meretricious yet stylish book"; "tawdry ornaments"
              [syn: {brassy}, {cheap}, {flash}, {flashy}, {garish},
              {gaudy}, {gimcrack}, {loud}, {meretricious}, {tacky},
              {tatty}, {trashy}]
       2: cheap and shoddy; "cheapjack moviemaking...that feeds on the
          low taste of the mob"- Judith Crist [syn: {cheapjack}, {shoddy}]
       [also: {tawdriest}, {tawdrier}]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  tawdriest
       See {tawdry}