tawdry

== English == === Etymology === Shortened from tawdry lace; originally a corruption and rebracketing of Saint Audrey lace (from Old English Æðelþrȳð). The lace necklaces sold to pilgrims to Saint Audrey fell out of fashion in the 17th century, and so tawdry was reinterpreted as meaning “cheap” or “vulgar”. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtɔːdɹi/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈtɔ.dɹi/ (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ˈtɑ.dɹi/ Rhymes: -ɔːdɹi === Noun === tawdry (countable and uncountable, plural tawdries) (obsolete) Tawdry lace. [17th c.] (obsolete) Anything gaudy and cheap; pretentious finery. [17th–19th c.] === Adjective === tawdry (comparative tawdrier, superlative tawdriest) (of clothing, appearance, etc.) Cheap and gaudy; showy. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:gaudy (of character, behavior, situations, etc.) Unseemly, base, mean-spirited, shameful. Synonym: sordid ==== Derived terms ==== tawdrily tawdriness ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === “tawdry”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.