as in terrible
marked by low quality and unbecoming appearance
We tolerate the neighbors' tawdry Christmas display during the holidays, but by January we're about sick of it.
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Dissimilar Words
as in trumpery
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tawdry
Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean, 22 May 2025
Various tawdry plots are picked up and discarded as the story staggers onward.
—Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
The film was a hit on 42nd Street, possessing a certain tawdry entertainment value.
—Katie Rife, IndieWire, 11 June 2025
The tawdry soap is the favorite show consumed by the titular trash-TV-loving security robot, Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård).
—Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for tawdry
Noun
Born a modest gathering of kindred spirits, the festival hath blossomed into a celebration of the days of yore, where knights do clash, bards sing sweet airs, merchants display their wares most fine and wenches doth tease in tawdry jests.
—Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean, 22 May 2025
Various tawdry plots are picked up and discarded as the story staggers onward.
—Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
The film was a hit on 42nd Street, possessing a certain tawdry entertainment value.
—Katie Rife, IndieWire, 11 June 2025
The tawdry soap is the favorite show consumed by the titular trash-TV-loving security robot, Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård).
—Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for tawdry
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tawdry
Adjective
-
While the latter is known for its legendarily terrible English localization, both of these were highly innovative horizontal scrolling shmups for their time.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
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Whether your team is in the middle of a winning run or mired in terrible form, five minutes looking at the standings can convince you that a hundred different futures are possible.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
14 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
What was the strategic benefit to the US of all this geopolitical trumpery?—
Peter Bergen,
CNN,
28 May 2022
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So will the border continue to vanish in the face of nativist backlash and a trumpery, gimcrack wall?—
Felipe Fernández-Armesto,
WSJ,
25 June 2018
Adjective
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This implies a poor Debt-to-Equity Ratio of 52.5% (vs. 19.4% for S&P 500).—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
16 Aug. 2025
-
The general manager, making a rare road trip, told reporters that his presence had more to do with his scheduling availability than the Yankees’ third-place standing or their poor play over the past two-plus months.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
16 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Daphne, miserable at boarding school; Bea, unhappy at home.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Aug. 2025
-
For years, parents faced a choice between exposing their kids to unknown dangers on social-media platforms or fighting a constant battle that would leave their kids isolated and miserable.—
Charlotte Alter,
Time,
4 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
None of the 95 rooms at this palatial property, which first opened in the 1860s, is the same, and the decor is an eccentric mishmash that combines every era since then, from Victorian fripperies to sinuously streamlined Art Nouveau.—
Laura Dannen Redman,
Robb Report,
28 July 2025
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In tonight’s episode, Aurora has more to worry about than mere frippery.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
30 June 2025
Adjective
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Tamra replies, which is kind of like comparing rotten apples with moldy oranges, but fine, logic is not required here.—
Peter Larsen,
Oc Register,
1 Aug. 2025
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But today that moral arc is as twisted as a gnarled, rotten root, and God Bless America has been replaced by the mournful dirge of Taps.—
Marci Alborghetti,
Hartford Courant,
3 July 2025
Noun
-
The photo by Getty Images' royal photographer Chris Jackson showed the Princess Royal and Sir Tim, 70, standing and smiling together in their finery before the French state banquet at Windsor Castle on July 9.—
Janine Henni,
People.com,
14 Aug. 2025
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In the ceremony’s seventh year, but the first year at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, businesses, nonprofits, entertainers, and artists all turned out in their red carpet finery to see who was voted best in their field by the people of Kansas City.—
PJ Green,
Kansas City Star,
29 July 2025
Adjective
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Yet 80% of charging happens not at public plazas but in garages, where electricity is cheap and parking is certain.—
Carlos Georgescu,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 2025
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Instead, save big by buying store brands, or private labels, which are usually cheaper.—
Gordon Ebanks,
CNN Money,
13 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tawdry.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tawdry. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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