gaudy

English

WOTD – 7 November 2010

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɔː.di/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɔ.di/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɑ.di/
• Rhymes: -ɔːdi

Etymology 1

Origin uncertain; perhaps from gaud (“ornament, trinket”) +‎ -y, perhaps ultimately from Old French gaudir (“to rejoice”).

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.

Adjective

gaudy (comparative gaudier, superlative gaudiest)

1. very showy or ornamented, now especially when excessive, or in a tasteless or vulgar manner
   • Shakespeare

     Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, / But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy.

   • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

     The rooms were lofty and handsome, and their furniture suitable to the fortune of its proprietor; but Elizabeth saw, with admiration of his taste, that it was neither gaudy nor uselessly fine; with less of splendour, and more real elegance, than the furniture of Rosings.

   • 1887, Homer Greene, Burnham Breaker

     A large gaudy, flowing cravat, and an ill-used silk hat, set well back on the wearer's head, completed this somewhat noticeable costume.

   • 2005, Thomas Hauser & Marilyn Cole Lownes, "How Bling-bling Took Over the Ring", The Observer, 9 January 2005

     Gaudy jewellery might offend some people's sense of style. But former heavyweight champion and grilling-machine entrepreneur George Foreman is philosophical about today's craze for bling-bling.

2. (obsolete) gay; merry; festive

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Tennyson to this entry?)

   • Shakespeare

     Let's have one other gaudy night.

   • Twain

     And then, there he was, slim and handsome, and dressed the gaudiest and prettiest you ever saw...

Synonyms

• (excessively showy): tawdry, flashy, garish, kitschy
• Thesaurus:gaudy

Derived terms

• gaudily
• gaudy night

Translations

very showy or ornamented

• Bulgarian: ярък (bg) (jarǎk), крещящ (bg) (kreštjašt), безвкусен (bg) (bezvkusen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 花哨 (zh) (huāshao), 俗麗, 俗丽 (súlì)

• Czech: nevkusný
• Dutch: ordinair (nl), opvallend (nl), schreeuwlelijk (nl)
• Finnish: pramea (fi)
• French: voyant (fr), criard (fr), surfait (fr), kitsch (fr), vulgaire (fr)
• Galician: chamativo m
• German: knallig, grell (de), protzig, kitschig (de), aufsehenerregend
• Hungarian: cifra (hu)

• Irish: gairéadach, scéiniúil, taibhseach, spiagaí
• Italian: chiassoso, vistoso (it), sgargiante
• Japanese: どぎつい (dogitsui), 派手な (ja) (はでな, hade-na), けばけばしい (ja) (kebakebashii), あくどい (akudoi)
• Manx: ard-ghaaoil
• Polish: jarmarczny
• Portuguese: espalhafatoso (pt)
• Russian: цвета́стый (ru) (cvetástyj), крича́щий (ru) (kričáščij), безвку́сный (ru) (bezvkúsnyj)
• Spanish: llamativo (es), vistoso (es), sobrecargado (es), vulgar (es), feúcho, chillón, hortera
• Tagalog: jologs

Noun

gaudy (plural gaudies)

1. One of the large beads in the rosary at which the paternoster is recited.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Gower to this entry?)

Etymology 2

Latin gaudium (“joy”)

Noun

gaudy (plural gaudies)

1. A reunion held by one of the colleges of the University of Oxford for alumni, normally held during the summer vacations.