gaudy
English
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 307: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈɡɔː.di/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 307: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈɡɔ.di/
Audio (AU): (file) - Rhymes: -ɔːdi
Etymology 1
Origin uncertain; perhaps from gaud (“ornament, trinket”) + -y, perhaps ultimately from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] 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)
- very showy or ornamented, now especially when excessive, or in a tasteless or vulgar manner
- (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- 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.
- (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- (obsolete) gay; merry; festive
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Tennyson to this entry?)
- (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- Let's have one other gaudy night.
- (Can we date this quote by Twain and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- 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
Translations
Noun
gaudy (plural gaudies)
- 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
Noun
gaudy (plural gaudies)
- A reunion held by one of the colleges of the University of Oxford for alumni, normally held during the summer vacations.
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɔːdi
- English terms suffixed with -y
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Frankish
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
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- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
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- Requests for date/Twain
- English nouns
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- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin