Dictionary

gaudy en · ADJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /-dɪ/ (Scotland)
• /ˈɡoːdɪj/ (British, Southern, Standard)
• /ˈɡɑ.di/ (cot-caught-merger)
• /ˈɡɔ.di/ without the cot–caught merger
• /ˈɡɔːdi/ (Northern-England, Received-Pronunciation, Wales)
• /ˈɡɔ.de/ (Scotland)
• /ˈɡoːdi/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
• /-di/ (Scotland)

Etymology

From Middle English gaudi, from Old French gaudie, from Medieval Latin gaudia. equivalent to gaud (“ornament, trinket”) + -y. Alternatively, from Middle English gaudi, gawdy (“yellowish”), from Old French gaude, galde (“weld (the plant)”), from Frankish *walda, from Proto-Germanic *walþō, *walþijō, akin to Old English *weald, *wielde (>Middle English welde, wolde and Anglo-Latin walda (“alum”)), Middle Low German wolde, Middle Dutch woude. More at English weld. A common claim that the word derives from Antoni Gaudí, designer of Barcelona's Sagrada Família Basilica, is incorrect: the word was in use centuries before Gaudí was born.

Meanings

1. Very showy or ornamented, now especially when excessive, or in a tasteless or vulgar manner.
   • A faded, and an ancient dragon he was; and many a wintry storm of rain, snow, sleet, and hail, had changed his colour from a gaudy blue to a faint lack-lustre shade of gray. 1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, chapter 3, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC, page 19:
   • 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. 2005 January 9, Thomas Hauser, Marilyn Cole Lownes, “How Bling-bling Took Over the Ring”, in The Observer:
   • Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, / But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy. c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
   • Not to mention he was draped in those gaudy symbols. 2007 March 16, Capcom Production Studio 4, quoting Trilo, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All, Europe: Capcom, →OCLC, Nintendo DS, scene: Part 3: Investigation, Circus Entrance, level/area: Turnabout Big Top:
   • Though, I confeſs, Paris has its Charms; but to me they are like thoſe of a Coquette, gay and gavvdy; they ſerve to amuſe vvith, but a Man vvould not chuſe to be marry'd to them. 1721, [Colley] Cibber, The Refusal; or, The Ladies Philosophy: A Comedy. […], London: […] B[arnaby Bernard] Lintot, […]; W[illiam] Mears, […]; and W[illiam Rufus] Chetwood, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 2:
   • 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. 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
   • They were all trapped out in the gaudiest of clothes.
   • A large gaudy, flowing cravat, and an ill-used silk hat, set well back on the wearer's head, completed this somewhat noticeable costume. 1887, Homer Greene, Burnham Breaker:
2. (obsolete) Fun; merry; festive.
   • And for my strange petition I will make Amends hereafter by some gaudy day 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page)”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC:
   • And then, there he was, slim and handsome, and dressed the gaudiest and prettiest you ever saw... 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC:
   • Let's have one other gaudy night. c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene xiii]:

Forms

Antonyms

unadorned

Deriveds

gaudily · ungaudy · gaudiness · gaudify

Hypernyms

excessive

Relateds

multicolored

Synonyms

garish (excessively showy) · schlocky · crass · trinkety · unbecoming · tacky · gross · showy · meretricious · tawdry (excessively showy) · gussied up · kitschy (excessively showy) · ostentatious · crude · brash · untasteful · catchpenny · ritzy · loud · flashy (excessively showy) · vain · florid · kitsch · gay · tasteless · hideous · zesty · obtrusive · naff · whorish · gaudy · flossy · snazzy · glaring · corny · chichi · bedizened · froufrou · raffish · flaunting · campy · tinselly · too much · pizazzy · pimped out · chintzy · gauche · blingish · pretentious · blatant · splendiferous

Translations (89)

ru аляпова́тый (very showy or ornamented) · az səliqəsiz (very showy or ornamented) · nl ordinair (very showy or ornamented) · it pacchiano (very showy or ornamented) · ka მყვირალა (very showy or ornamented) · cs nevkusný (very showy or ornamented) · de schreiend (very showy or ornamented) · az zövqsüz (very showy or ornamented) · ru безвку́сный (very showy or ornamented) · it sgargiante (very showy or ornamented) · cmn 俗艷 /俗艳 (very showy or ornamented) · nl schreeuwlelijk (very showy or ornamented) · es hortera (very showy or ornamented) · tl jologs (very showy or ornamented) · ja けばけばしい (very showy or ornamented) · gl charro (very showy or ornamented) · ru цвета́стый (very showy or ornamented) · ga spiagaí (very showy or ornamented) · ka უგემოვნო (very showy or ornamented) · hu csicsás (very showy or ornamented) · de grell (very showy or ornamented) · it appariscente (very showy or ornamented) · de farbenprächtig (very showy or ornamented) · ga gairéadach (very showy or ornamented) · nl opvallend (very showy or ornamented) · hu cifra (very showy or ornamented) · tr cicili bicili (very showy or ornamented) · tr şatafatlı (very showy or ornamented) · hu ízléstelen (very showy or ornamented) · it vistoso (very showy or ornamented) · bg крещящ (very showy or ornamented) · hu csiricsáré (very showy or ornamented) · cmn 花俏 (very showy or ornamented) · ro înzorzonat (very showy or ornamented) · de protzig (very showy or ornamented) · nl schel (very showy or ornamented) · cmn 俗麗 /俗丽 (very showy or ornamented) · ga taibhseach (very showy or ornamented) · ga mórthaibhseach (very showy or ornamented) · es vulgar (very showy or ornamented) · bg ярък (very showy or ornamented) · fr criard (very showy or ornamented) · nl opzichtig (very showy or ornamented) · pl jarmarczny (very showy or ornamented) · cs nápadný (very showy or ornamented) · gl chamativo (very showy or ornamented) · ka ფერადოვანი (very showy or ornamented) · ru крича́щий (very showy or ornamented) · pt chamativo (very showy or ornamented) · es sobrecargado (very showy or ornamented) · de knallbunt (very showy or ornamented) · nl bont (very showy or ornamented) · tr şinanay (very showy or ornamented) · fr kitsch (very showy or ornamented) · bg безвкусен (very showy or ornamented) · pt espalhafatoso (very showy or ornamented) · es llamativo (very showy or ornamented) · hu rikító (very showy or ornamented) · hu tarkabarka (very showy or ornamented) · de aufgetakelt (very showy or ornamented) · ro împopoțonat (very showy or ornamented) · eo malŝika (very showy or ornamented) · hu feltűnő (very showy or ornamented) · fr voyant (very showy or ornamented) · ja 派手な (very showy or ornamented) · ro kitsch (very showy or ornamented) · de knallig (very showy or ornamented) · it chiassoso (very showy or ornamented) · hu hivalkodó (very showy or ornamented) · cmn 花哨 (very showy or ornamented) · fr surfait (very showy or ornamented) · es feúcho (very showy or ornamented) · ja どぎつい (very showy or ornamented) · de pompig (very showy or ornamented) · de kitschig (very showy or ornamented) · es chillón (very showy or ornamented) · pt vistoso (very showy or ornamented) · gv ard-ghaaoil (very showy or ornamented) · ga scéiniúil (very showy or ornamented) · sv prålig (very showy or ornamented) · fi pramea (very showy or ornamented) · de aufsehenerregend (very showy or ornamented) · fi kruusattu (very showy or ornamented) · fr vulgaire (very showy or ornamented) · pdt bunt (very showy or ornamented) · cs křiklavý (very showy or ornamented) · ja あくどい (very showy or ornamented) · es vistoso (very showy or ornamented) · bo ཧར་པོ (very showy or ornamented)

gaudy en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /-dɪ/ (Scotland)
• /ˈɡoːdɪj/ (British, Southern, Standard)
• /ˈɡɑ.di/ (cot-caught-merger)
• /ˈɡɔ.di/ without the cot–caught merger
• /ˈɡɔːdi/ (Northern-England, Received-Pronunciation, Wales)
• /ˈɡɔ.de/ (Scotland)
• /ˈɡoːdi/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
• /-di/ (Scotland)

Etymology

From Middle English gaudi, from Old French gaudie, from Medieval Latin gaudia. equivalent to gaud (“ornament, trinket”) + -y. Alternatively, from Middle English gaudi, gawdy (“yellowish”), from Old French gaude, galde (“weld (the plant)”), from Frankish *walda, from Proto-Germanic *walþō, *walþijō, akin to Old English *weald, *wielde (>Middle English welde, wolde and Anglo-Latin walda (“alum”)), Middle Low German wolde, Middle Dutch woude. More at English weld. A common claim that the word derives from Antoni Gaudí, designer of Barcelona's Sagrada Família Basilica, is incorrect: the word was in use centuries before Gaudí was born.

Meanings

1. (archaic) One of the large beads in the rosary at which the paternoster is recited.
   • In 1458, the owner of the precious book, which had been taken from the martyr’s body at the block, left a rosary of 50 coral beads with gold gaudies, to his “beloved, most blessed Saint Richard Scrope,” to help in his canonization, with a prayer to God that it might be granted of His great grace. 1894, James Hamilton Wylie, History of England under Henry the Fourth, volume 2, pages 356–7:
   • She wore a coral trinket on her arms, / A set of beads, the gaudies tricked in green, / Whence hung a golden brooch of brightest sheen […] 1952 [1387–1400], Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Nevill Coghill, The Canterbury Tales, page 29:
   • The circling year was to him like the rosary over which he recited his aves and paternosters; the “gaudies” or larger beads were the holidays set at regular intervals along the string, […] 1919, Frederic William Moorman, Plays of the Ridings, pages 8–9:

Forms

gaudy en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /-dɪ/ (Scotland)
• /ˈɡoːdɪj/ (British, Southern, Standard)
• /ˈɡɑ.di/ (cot-caught-merger)
• /ˈɡɔ.di/ without the cot–caught merger
• /ˈɡɔːdi/ (Northern-England, Received-Pronunciation, Wales)
• /ˈɡɔ.de/ (Scotland)
• /ˈɡoːdi/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
• /-di/ (Scotland)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin gaudium (“joy”). Doublet of joy and jo.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:Oxford University) A reunion held by one of the colleges of the University of Oxford for alumni, normally during the long vacation.
   • And since then, Mary had married and scarcely been heard of; except that she had haunted the College with a sick persistence, never missing an Old Students’ Meeting or a Gaudy. 1935, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night:

Forms

Deriveds

gaudy night