English Explanatory Dictionary

gaudy

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Very showy or ornamented, now especially when excessive, or in a tasteless or vulgar manner.
  2. Fun; merry; festive.
noun
  1. One of the large beads in the rosary at which the paternoster is recited.
noun
  1. A reunion held by one of the colleges of the University of Oxford for alumni, normally during the long vacation.

Pronunciation

/ˈɡɔː.di/ /ˈɡɔ.di/ /ˈɡɑ.di/ en-au-gaudy.ogg

Word forms

gaudy gaudier gaudiest gaudies

Etymology

From Middle English gaudi, from Old French gaudie, from Medieval Latin gaudia. equivalent to gaud (“ornament, trinket”) + -y. Alternatively, from Middle English gaudi, gawdy (“yellowish”), from Old French gaude, galde (“weld (the plant)”), from Frankish *walda, from Proto-Germanic *walþō, *walþijō, akin to Old English *weald, *wielde (>Middle English welde, wolde and Anglo-Latin walda (“alum”)), Middle Low German wolde, Middle Dutch woude. More at English weld. A common claim that the word derives from Antoni Gaudí, designer of Barcelona's Sagrada Família Basilica, is incorrect: the word was in use centuries before Gaudí was born.

Synonyms

bedizened blatant blingish brash campy catchpenny chichi chintzy corny crass crude flaunting florid flossy froufrou gauche gaudy gay glaring gross gussied up hideous kitsch loud meretricious naff obtrusive ostentatious pizazzy pretentious ritzy raffish schlocky showy snazzy splendiferous tacky tasteless tinselly too much trinkety unbecoming untasteful vain whorish zesty tawdry flashy garish kitschy

Antonyms

unadorned

Related words

multicolored

Derived words

gaudify gaudily gaudiness ungaudy gaudy night
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