Word forms: comparative tawdrier, superlative tawdriest
1. adjective
If you describe something such as clothes or decorations as tawdry, you mean that they are cheap and show a lack of taste.
...tawdry jewellery.
2. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
If you describe something such as a story or an event as tawdry, you mean that it is unpleasant or immoral.
...the yawning gulf between her fantasies and the tawdry reality.
...the tawdry business of day-to-day bartering and bargaining.
More Synonyms of tawdry
tawdry in British English
(ˈtɔːdrɪ)
adjectiveWord forms: -drier or -driest
cheap, showy, and of poor quality
tawdry jewellery
Derived forms
tawdrily (ˈtawdrily)
adverb
tawdriness (ˈtawdriness)
noun
Word origin
C16 tawdry lace, shortened and altered from Seynt Audries lace, finery sold at the fair of St Audrey (Etheldrida), 7th-century queen of Northumbria and patron saint of Ely, Cambridgeshire
tawdry in American English
(ˈtɔdri)
adjectiveWord forms: ˈtawdrier or ˈtawdriest
cheap and showy; gaudy; sleazy
Derived forms
tawdriness (ˈtawdriness)
noun
Word origin
by syllabic merging of St. Audrey, esp. in St. Audrey laces, women's neckpieces sold at St. Audrey's fair in Norwich, England
Examples of 'tawdry' in a sentence
tawdry
Maybe that will be the one positive thing that comes out of this tawdry show.
The Sun (2007)
Neither of us want something as tawdry as an affair.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
What a tawdry little tale this is.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
This whole tawdry affair highlights the corrupting power of a rotten culture.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The second tale is more tawdry.
The Times Literary Supplement (2010)
There have been no winners in this sorry, tawdry tale.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Getting fit and healthy is a tawdry, tedious affair.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Did the Burberry collection look cheap and tawdry?
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Close up, they look cheap and tawdry.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
This has been a tawdry affair, and the only person to emerge with his dignity intact is Hester.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
You and I weren't just a couple of unhappy married people engaged in a tawdry affair.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
(adjective)
Definition
cheap, showy, and of poor quality
tawdry jewellery
Synonyms
vulgar
The decor is ugly, tasteless and vulgar.
cheap
Don't resort to cheap copies; save up for the real thing.
tacky (informal)
tacky red sunglasses
flashy
a flashy sports car
tasteless
spectacularly tasteless objets d'art
plastic (slang)
glittering
naff (British, slang)
gaudy
a gaudy orange-and-purple hat
tatty
showy
They were smart but not showy.
tinsel
the tinsel image of a movie star
raffish
gimcrack
a gift shop selling gimcrack badges, keyrings and bottle openers
meretricious
vulgar, meretricious and shabby souvenirs
tinselly
brummagem
cheap-jack (informal)
Opposites
elegant
,
stylish
,
tasteful
,
simple
,
plain
,
refined
,
graceful
,
well-tailored
,
unostentatious
,
unflashy
Additional synonyms
in the sense of cheap
Definition
of poor quality
Don't resort to cheap copies; save up for the real thing.
Synonyms
inferior,
poor,
worthless,
second-rate,
shoddy,
tawdry,
tatty (British),
trashy,
substandard,
low-rent (informal),
two-bit (slang),
crappy (slang),
two a penny,
rubbishy,
dime-a-dozen (informal),
piss-poor (slang),
tinhorn (US, slang),
bodger or bodgie (Australian, slang),
common,
paltry,
poxy (slang),
chickenshit (US, slang),
bush-league (Australian, New Zealand, informal)
in the sense of flashy
Definition
showy in a vulgar way
a flashy sports car
Synonyms
showy,
loud,
over the top (informal),
flamboyant,
brash,
tacky (informal),
flaunting,
glitzy (slang),
tasteless,
naff (British, slang),
gaudy,
garish,
jazzy (informal),
tawdry,
ostentatious,
snazzy (informal),
glittery,
meretricious,
cheap and nasty,
in poor taste,
tinselly,
bling (slang)
in the sense of gaudy
Definition
vulgarly bright or colourful
a gaudy orange-and-purple hat
Synonyms
garish,
bright,
glaring,
vulgar,
brilliant,
flash (informal),
loud,
brash,
tacky (informal),
flashy,
tasteless,
jazzy (informal),
tawdry,
showy,
gay (old-fashioned),
ostentatious,
raffish (archaic),
brummagem (archaic),
florid
Nearby words of
tawdry
tautological
tautology
tavern
tawdry
tax
taxing
tea
Synonyms of 'tawdry'
tawdry
Explore 'tawdry' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of gimcrack
Definition
showy but cheap
a gift shop selling gimcrack badges, keyrings and bottle openers
Synonyms
cheap,
vulgar,
tacky (informal),
tasteless,
naff (British, slang),
shoddy,
gaudy,
tawdry,
trashy,
rubbishy,
brummagem
in the sense of meretricious
Definition
superficially or garishly attractive but of no real value
vulgar, meretricious and shabby souvenirs
Synonyms
trashy,
flashy,
gaudy,
garish,
tawdry,
showy,
plastic (slang),
tinsel,
gimcrack
in the sense of raffish
Synonyms
vulgar,
loud,
gross,
coarse,
flashy,
tasteless,
gaudy,
garish,
tawdry,
showy,
trashy,
uncouth,
meretricious
in the sense of showy
Definition
colourful, bright in appearance, and very noticeable, and perhaps rather vulgar