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flashy

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adjective

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective flashy contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of flashy are garish, gaudy, meretricious, and tawdry. While all these words mean "vulgarly or cheaply showy," flashy implies an effect of brilliance quickly and easily seen to be shallow or vulgar.

a flashy nightclub act

When can garish be used instead of flashy?

Although the words garish and flashy have much in common, garish describes what is distressingly or offensively bright.

garish neon signs

When is it sensible to use gaudy instead of flashy?

The meanings of gaudy and flashy largely overlap; however, gaudy implies a tasteless use of overly bright, often clashing colors or excessive ornamentation.

circus performers in gaudy costumes

When might meretricious be a better fit than flashy?

The synonyms meretricious and flashy are sometimes interchangeable, but meretricious stresses falsity and may describe a tawdry show that beckons with a false allure or promise.

a meretricious wasteland of casinos and bars

When would tawdry be a good substitute for flashy?

In some situations, the words tawdry and flashy are roughly equivalent. However, tawdry applies to what is at once gaudy and cheap and sleazy.

tawdry saloons

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of flashiness
Adjective
His flashiest assists were offset by foolhardy turnovers. Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 10 Mar. 2025 Neither gravitates toward the flashier aspects of the virtuoso life style. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025 Those chasing flashy marketing will be left behind. Lutz Finger, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025 Strategic workforce management isn’t about slashing headcount for the sake of flashy cost-cutting. Sherzod Odilov, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for flashiness
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flashiness
Noun
  • Their flamboyance was a public assertion of freedom, particularly in the north of the United States, where many migrated to reinvent and present themselves following freedom.
    Tiana Randall, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025
  • As luxury fashion began to tilt toward flamboyance and logo-happy flash, the Meiers were unafraid to show something as stark as pencil-straight dark trousers with a white button-up.
    Jacob Gallagher, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • With deals like $100 off of a stylish firepit table from our own BHG x Walmart line, nearly 60% for an outdoor griddle, and 40% off patio dining sets, Walmart’s patio furniture deals equal huge savings just ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
    Paige Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 May 2025
  • Function is priority, but practical can be stylish.
    Footwear News, Footwear News, 20 May 2025
Adjective
  • But due to noise from the venue next door, which was playing loud music amid a competing bar, Bruni bailed even after the musicians were assembled on stage.
    Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 17 May 2025
  • Literal flames surrounded the glow, both repelling and drawing you in more, followed by two loud, disorienting thumps.
    Christopher Rosa, Glamour, 16 May 2025
Noun
  • The pink-and-brown mansion, often considered a monument to Roaring 20s ostentation, stretches from Lake Worth to the Atlantic Ocean and contains 58 bedrooms, 33 bathrooms, three bomb shelters, a theater, a ballroom and a nine-hole golf course.
    Miami Herasld Archives, Miami Herald, 7 Jan. 2025
  • The mansion, often considered a monument to Roaring ‘20s ostentation, stretches from the Intracoastal to the Atlantic Ocean.
    Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 7 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Wynton Marsalis is looking snazzy in a suit and tie as our Zoom video call gets underway, having just returned from a faculty meeting at The Juilliard School in New York.
    Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 5 May 2025
  • This is followed by a snazzy trine between Venus and Aries and Mars in Leo on May 22, as this synergy evokes a desire for passion, romance and creative expression, while the sun in Gemini’s sextile with Neptune in Aries inspires us to dream big and tap into our intuition.
    Staff Author, People.com, 1 May 2025
Adjective
  • At a 78th Cannes, which on the party side wasn’t as noisy as previous ones with drone shows (2022’s Elvis) and Elton John performing on the beach (2019’s Rocketman), leave it to amfAR‘s 31st fashionista blowout Cannes Gala at Hotel Du Cap at Eden Roc to steal the show.
    Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 23 May 2025
  • Hike in groups: A group is noisier and smellier, the National Park Service said.
    Helena Wegner, Sacbee.com, 23 May 2025
Noun
  • The afternoon press conference was followed by a spectacular son et lumière show at an evening event which had all the glitz and glamour of a Hollywood premiere.
    Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 18 May 2025
  • After several fertile years, some of the glitz is rubbing off the medium.
    Brian Steinberg, Variety, 16 May 2025
Adjective
  • Original price: $40 (Abercrombie & Fitch) A fashionable, heavyweight cropped tee from Abercrombie & Fitch is the definition of style meets comfort.
    Christopher Murray may earn a commission if you buy through our referral links. This content was created by a team that works independently from the Fox newsroom., FOXNews.com, 23 May 2025
  • The Pitch Perfect actress played the flamboyantly fashionable Capitol chaperone for all four Hunger Games films until 2015.
    Emily Blackwood, People.com, 22 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Flashiness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flashiness. Accessed 27 May. 2025.

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