Question 1 · Quick check
gaudy
/ˈɡɔː.di/
adjective · noun
Türkçe translations
Translating…
In plain English
- 01
adjective
Too brightly colored or decorated in a tasteless way.
- 02
adjective
Extra detailFun; 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 meaningsOne of the large beads in the rosary at which the paternoster is recited.
Very showy or ornamented, now especially when excessive, or in a tasteless or vulgar manner.
noun
Extra meaningA reunion held by one of the colleges of the University of Oxford for alumni, normally during the long vacation.
More examples
In contextHe 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.
Related
Quick test
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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.