gaudy

CEFRC1

/ˈɡɔː.di/

adjective · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Too brightly colored or decorated in a tasteless way.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Fun; merry; festive.

Examples

  • Don't you think that necklace is a bit gaudy?

  • Stick to jackets that aren't too gaudy.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings
  1. One of the large beads in the rosary at which the paternoster is recited.

  2. Very showy or ornamented, now especially when excessive, or in a tasteless or vulgar manner.

noun

Extra meaning
  1. A reunion held by one of the colleges of the University of Oxford for alumni, normally during the long vacation.

More examples

In context
  • He slipped the gaudy shirt on.

  • Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, / But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy.

  • 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.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

She wore a blank dress with bright colors and shiny beads.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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.