Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective garish contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of garish are flashy, gaudy, meretricious, and tawdry. While all these words mean "vulgarly or cheaply showy," garish describes what is distressingly or offensively bright.

garish neon signs

When might flashy be a better fit than garish?

While the synonyms flashy and garish are close in meaning, flashy implies an effect of brilliance quickly and easily seen to be shallow or vulgar.

a flashy nightclub act

Where would gaudy be a reasonable alternative to garish?

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

circus performers in gaudy costumes

When can meretricious be used instead of garish?

Although the words meretricious and garish have much in common, 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 could tawdry be used to replace garish?

While in some cases nearly identical to garish, 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 garish In the Kurosawa version, the characters see the house on the hill as garish. Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 4 Sep. 2025 Severinsen wore purposely garish suits, turning himself into a character. Chris Almeida, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2025 Although plentiful, colors should never be garish or jarring. Kristina McGuirk, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Aug. 2025 Design-wise, the duvet cover in question should ideally align with your interior design aesthetic, and there are a multitude of styles available to shop today — from easy-on-the-eyes pastels to crisp and timeless whites to fun yet never-garish patterns. Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 21 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for garish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for garish
Adjective
  • Meet Nashville's new crime-fighting Clydesdale Metro Nashville mounted patrol officer Michael Douglas squeezed a three-foot-long rubber chicken, producing an increasingly louder and closer screeching sound to try and provoke a 1,700-pound Clydesdale named Ross.
    Laura L. Davis, Nashville Tennessean, 6 Oct. 2025
  • At the same time, Mercury and Mars are activating your sector of expansion, meaning your inner philosopher is loud.
    Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • This simple yet powerful step turned noisy, unreliable photon signals into clean bursts of single photons — a breakthrough for future quantum technologies.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2025
  • How to stand out in such a noisy season?
    Laure Guilbault, Vogue, 1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • So too are gaudy on-ice percentages that usually aren’t repeatable.
    The Athletic NHL, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Those gaudy numbers came on top of fast agility times.
    Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 25 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Garish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/garish. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on garish

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