English

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
• Wikisaurus:gaudy

Derived terms

• gaudily
• gaudy night

Translations

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

From 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.