tawdry

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈtɔːdri/ UK /ˈtɔːdɹi/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
showy but cheap and of poor quality

The necklace looked expensive but was actually quite tawdry.
2

adj
morally low or distasteful

The scandal was covered in a tawdry manner by the tabloids.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · showy but cheap and of poor... gaudy flashy garish tacky kitschy

2 adj · morally low or distasteful sleazysordid disreputable vulgar coarse

Opposites

tasteful elegant refined classy

Word family

Forms tawdrily

Simplified etymology

Tawdry began in the early 17th century as a shortening of tawdry lace, itself a contraction of St Audrey’s lace. Audrey was a Latinized form of Etheldreda, the 7th-century patron saint of Ely, and the name referred to silk lace or ribbon traditionally sold at her fair. The finery’s cheapness and poor quality produced the modern sense “showy but shoddy.”

Etymology

A contraction of 'St. Audrey's lace,' the cheap finery sold at the fair of St. Audrey (Old English Æthelthryth); from 'tawdry lace' in Middle English, the word came to mean 'cheap and gaudy' in Early Modern English.

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# tawdry

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈtɔːdri/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtɔːdɹi/

## Meanings
1. showy but cheap and of poor quality
2. morally low or distasteful

## Examples
- The necklace looked expensive but was actually quite tawdry.
- The scandal was covered in a tawdry manner by the tabloids.

## Synonyms
- gaudy
- flashy
- garish
- tacky
- kitschy
- sleazy
- sordid
- disreputable
- vulgar
- coarse

## Antonyms
- tasteful
- elegant
- refined
- classy

## Etymology
A contraction of 'St. Audrey's lace,' the cheap finery sold at the fair of St. Audrey (Old English Æthelthryth); from 'tawdry lace' in Middle English, the word came to mean 'cheap and gaudy' in Early Modern English.

## AI Etymology
Tawdry is a contraction of 'St. Audrey's lace,' the cheap finery sold at the fair of St. Audrey (Old English Æthelthryth); from 'tawdry lace' in Middle English, the word came to mean 'cheap and gaudy' in Early Modern English. In current use it is an adjective meaning "showy but cheap and of poor quality". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The history is mainly one of transmission into English, with the older form and sense carried through borrowing or adaptation. For dictionary purposes, the important point is the continuity between the older form, the route into English, and the present lexical sense.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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