What does tawdry mean?
Tawdry is an adjective for something that looks flashy but cheap, or that displays bad taste rather than skill. The word is chiefly used for clothing, jewellery, decoration, performance, and other conspicuous displays whose appeal depends on glitter, excess, or imitation at a low price. It carries a strongly derogatory tone: calling something tawdry implies not merely that it is garish but also that it is visibly shoddy and tasteless. In literary or critical use, it can condemn a deliberately vulgar aesthetic, as when a stage production is described as tawdry rather than merely extravagant. Although associated especially with British English, the word is also used in American English. It is useful where a single adjective captures both ostentation and poor judgment, whereas words such as garish or gaudy may describe excess without necessarily implying cheapness.
adjectiveCheap and gaudy; lacking taste or refinement, especially in dress or ornament.
- Cheap and gaudy; lacking taste or refinement, especially in dress or ornament.
"She dismissed the sequinned clutch as tawdry, preferring the simplicity of her black dress."
"The performer's costume was bright and elaborate, but its tawdry excess made the serious play feel like a caricature."
"His praise of the ostentatious building amounted to little more than an accusation that its decoration was tawdry."
A word for shine without taste: calling something tawdry condemns both its conspicuous display and its lack of refinement.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tawdry come from?
Tawdry is an English word whose precise ultimate origin is uncertain. It emerged in the early modern period with meanings associated with cheapness or poor quality and later developed its modern sense of flashy, gaudy display. Its critical modern meaning combines conspicuous ornament with inferior workmanship and bad taste.
How tawdry is actually used
Strongly derogatory and usually applied to conspicuous clothing, jewellery, decoration, performance, or other displays considered both cheap and lacking taste. It is not a neutral substitute for merely bright, ornate, or flashy.