i Register
In some senses, tawdry is marked as obsolete. Watch for register when choosing this word.
tawdry
UK /ˈtɔːdɹi/ US /ˈtɔ.dɹi/
noun 2adj 2
Collocations
5ADJ.
cheap, little, overcharged
VERB + TAWDRY
dress
TAWDRY + NOUN
festoons, garbage, housings
PREP.
from, upon, with, with
ADV.
always, incredibly, rather, sufficiently
Definitions
noun
1
Tawdry lace.
2
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 […].
adj
1
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.
2
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.
Thesaurus
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
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 […].
Wiktionary02
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
Wiktionary03
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.
Wiktionary04
It was all cheap and incredibly tawdry, from the festoons of paper roses on the walls to the flash of paste jewels in make-believe crowns.
Wiktionary05
What a tawdry dress!
Tatoeba · #346626406
You can tell they have no taste in furniture because their apartment is filled to the brim with tawdry garbage they bought on clearance.
Tatoeba · #10921420Usage Notes
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