Synonyms of garish

garish

adjective

ˈger-ish 

as in loud

excessively showy

the wedding guest's thick makeup was garish and unnecessary

Synonyms & Similar Words

• loud
• noisy
• gaudy
• ornate
• flashy
• ostentatious
• glitzy
• flamboyant
• flaring
• extravagant
• excessive
• swank
• splashy
• fancy
• razzle-dazzle
• bright
• over-the-top
• overwrought
• baroque
• pretentious
• glaring
• hammy
• fulsome
• spectacular
• snazzy
• tacky
• glittery
• tawdry
• overdone
• florid
• lurid
• tasteless
• bedizened
• blaring
• vulgar
• inelegant
• overbright
• tinselly
• graceless
• zooty

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• appropriate
• conservative
• understated
• quiet
• proper
• fitting
• subdued
• muted
• inconspicuous
• restrained
• unobtrusive
• unflashy
• elegant
• tasteful
• graceful
• toned (down)
• plain
• unflamboyant
• modest
• simple
• unpretentious

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

Recent Examples of garish

Translating Anthony Burgess’s stylized, dystopian novel for the screen, Kubrick adopts a playful, formal approach that combines colorful, futuristic exuberance with rapid-fire editing, changes in camera speed, and a garish production design that melds space-age and Georgian-era aesthetics. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025

The white shade offers extreme eye brightening, in a playful, non-garish way. —Kiana Murden, Vogue, 17 Nov. 2025

This has translated into freakishly unstable songs that spin from garish wubs and witch folk to lullaby-like purrs. —Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 6 Nov. 2025

The movie has the color palette of a garish tricolored ice pop, a jumble of psychedelic turquoise blue and incandescent fuchsia. —Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 29 Oct. 2025